Crew Girl · 2026 · TV series · 8 episodes · Miku Martineau
Verdict: WATCH – if you must
If I were to make a viral Netflix show, the ingredients would look something like this:
- 1 beautiful lead actress
- 6–8 shirtless men
- 1–2 love triangles
- 1 enemies-to-lovers relationship
- 1 family rivalry
- A generous dose of The O.C. meets Gossip Girl aesthetics
- All neatly wrapped up in 8 episodes
And that’s exactly what Crew Girl feels like. Something created in the Netflix factory for maximum effect.
It’s hard to pinpoint the problem, other than to say there’s just zero depth to it. What story is it actually trying to tell?
Here are some of the hardships at Easton: Teagan’s new school doesn’t have a girls’ team, so she’s relegated to being the cox for the boys’ team. She also has to endure being the most sought-after girl in school. Josh is constantly trying to impress his grandfather, who owns an airline. If he fails, Ryder might own it one day. Cam feels like the odd one out because he’s on a scholarship. In the real world, we call it fortunate. Baloo is dating a guy from a rival school and has to hide it. Oh, the horror.
If I were to be more charitable, it does go slightly deeper than that. Josh has a heart condition and will have to give up rowing. He’s also hiding it because it might affect his future prospects at the airline. Cam’s dad is in financial trouble and he feels he needs to do something about it. He’s forced to choose between his rowing career and saving his dad’s business.
Now that it feels like a kind of teenage Selling Sunset, the next question becomes: who’s the villain exactly?
In Crew Girl’s world, no one is that bad. There’s no Dan Scott, a T-Bag, or even a Louis Litt. I’m not dreading anyone, and I’m therefore not really rooting for anyone. And what about the Teagan/Cam/Josh triangle? I can’t think of a love triangle I was less invested in: if Teagan ends up with Cam, great. If it’s Josh, he’s essentially a good guy too. There’s nothing riding on it.
Which brings me to my final point: I always check if a show was picked up for a second season. When Boss Girl didn’t get a second season, I felt like the Netflix gods had let me down. I went ahead and checked if Crew Girl had a future, but I didn’t really care either way. And that probably says it all.
So if you need to unwind with some mindless TV and stare at pretty people for a few hours, by all means go ahead. Just don’t expect anything more.