Recovery Road had me hooked from its very first commercial that aired during my weekly Pretty Little Liars hour. The show mostly grabbed me because Daniel Franzese was on it (he played Damian in Mean Girls and I find him hilarious and adorable) but also because Recovery Road is yet another ABC Family-turned-Freeform show with SUBSTANCE. The show is centered around Maddie (Jessica Sula ) and her struggles with addiction. Maddie is sentenced to live for 90 days in a home with adults that focus on getting and remaining sober. From the very first episode, Freeform was NOT about to gloss over the issues. Maddie goes through a painful 24 hours of withdrawal (which was NOT sugarcoated... GREAT job Freeform!) and starts on her first phase in her recovery: denial.
This show does not make recovery from addiction look FUN. Some of the scenes are downright gory and unpleasant. However, the gore and shock value create awareness to the disease that is addiction and they do add to the great teen based drama that Freeform is famous for.
Again, I commend Freeform on another premiere well done and I look forward to the next episode of Recovery Road.
Recovery Road airs on Mondays at 9/8c on Freeform: The new name for ABC Family. Check your local listings.