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IT’S NOT LIKE THAT: Episode 108: “Hope and Peace and Joy and Love”

“Surprises and Healing”

Family Content: -1 Caution advised for older children, including teenagers, and sensitive adults.

Entertainment Quality:

None Light Moderate Heavy
Language
Violence
Sex
Nudity

Credits →

What You Need To Know:

In the Season 1 finale of IT’S NOT LIKE THAT on The Wonder Project through Prime Video, the Christmas season is in full swing. However, trials and tribulations rock the two families in the series, forcing them to face several hard truths. The episode covers many complicated issues, including teenage rebellion, alcohol abuse, bullying, grief, and the aftermath of a divorce. Will Christmas bring healing and new love? 

 The Season 1 finale of IT’S NOT LIKE THAT offers excellent performances and compelling, heartwarming drama. It has a strong Christian, moral, pro-family worldview. Characters attend a Christmas Eve service, sing Christian hymns, quote John 3:16, and talk about Jesus Christ’s sacrifice. Also, parents guide their children. Finally, a heartwarming family scene ends with someone opening a Bible to a verse saying God’s love “never fails.” However, the final episode of IT’S NOT LIKE THAT, Season 1, ends on a cliffhanger. It also has some light foul language, bullying, underage alcohol use and drunk driving, a bedroom scene between a married couple, and adult conversations. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for older children and teenagers. 

Content:

(CC, BB, L, S, N, V, A, M): 

Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements:

  Strong Christian, redemptive, moral, pro-family worldview where people attend a Christmas Eve service, sing Christian hymns, quote the Bible verse John 3:16 and talk about Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, parents are shown disciplining and guiding their children, people own up to their mistakes and apologize, siblings support each other through hardship and grief, and a character reads the Bible;

Foul Language:

  One “d” word, one “h” word, three light OMG profanities, and people use words like crappy, screwed and sucked;

Sex:

  A married couple kisses passionately in bed, and it’s implied they had relations, discussion about sexual performance, an unmarried couple kisses, a man seductively holds a woman’s face like he might kiss her, and there are several other conversations about sex; 

Violence:

  Scenes from a car accident, but nothing too graphic, and an emergency room scene where a character has a black eye;

Nudity:

  One scene with upper male nudity and a woman’s bare shoulders are shown in bed, plus a woman wears tight dresses and low cut shirts;

Alcohol Use:

  A character drives under the influence, several conversations about alcoholism but it’s rebuked, a character talks about being in recovery, and teenagers drink at a party;

Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse:

  No smoking or drugs; and,

Miscellaneous Immorality:

  A teenager takes a car without permission, a man and woman are divorced, and a character dates multiple men at once. 

 

 

More Detail:

IT’S NOT LIKE THAT is a faith-friendly drama series on The Wonder Project on Prime Video. Malcolm, a pastor, and Lori are two friends who unexpectedly become single parents. Malcolm’s wife died, and Lori’s husband asks for a divorce. The two adults lean on each other, encouraging and supporting each other as they try to be the best parents they can be. That’s easier said than done, because all of their children are not only struggling with adolescence ut also struggling with inidivual personal problems. 

  In the Season 1 finale, the Christmas season is in full swing, but many trials and tribulations rock both families, forcing them to face several hard truths. The episode covers many complicated issues, from teenage rebellion to the effects of alcoholism in family systems. Lori’s story shows the nuances of navigating dating after divorce and co-parenting with her ex-husband. Meanwhile, Malcolm’s family processes the grief of celebrating Christmas after losing their wife and mother. 

 Will the Christmas season of giving bring healing? Will Malcom and Lori become even closer to each other? 

 The final episode of Season One of IT’S NOT LIKE THAT has good production values with excellent performances by Scott Foley and Erinn Hayes as Malcolm and Lori as well as by the supporting cast. The unfolding drama and emotional delivery keep viewers engaged and invested in the characters. The episode is well-shot with excellent camera work and visually pleasing settings that add to the story’s authenticity. 

 The first season finale of IT’S NOT LIKE THAT has a strong Christian, moral, pro-family worldview. People discuss their faith, attend church and give or listen to sermons. Characters attend a Christmas Eve service, sing Christian hymns, quote the Bible verse John 3:16, and talk about Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. Parents are shown disciplining and guiding their children. The finale ends on a heartwarming pro-family scene at Christmas. In one short scene, Malcolm’s oldest child opens her late mother’s Bible, where she reads a note from 1 Corinthians 13:8 that God’s love “never fails.” 

 However, the episode’s final moments end on a cliffhanger. The Season 1 finale also has some brief and light foul language, scenes of bullying, an implied bedroom scene between a married couple, and adult conversations about sex. Part of the episode also revolves around a teenager driving under the influence. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advisescaution for older children, including teenagers under 15.