“Sterling Point,” which dropped a full eight-episode season on Prime Video on Wednesday, is a nice palate cleanser at a time when most compelling television seems to chronicle murder, theft, horror, and general societal malaise. Here’s a smart, sprightly YA series in which the teens behave enough like adults to keep adult viewers interested, which is appropriate enough when most of those teens are played by 20-something actors. So for those who might be outraged to see 17-year-olds smoking, drinking, swearing, and making out, just keep in mind that they’re actually closer to 25.
They’re also lucky enough to be passing their summer on a Toronto-area island called Muskosa that might have sprung from the imagination of Destination Canada. Clear blue water, thickets of dark green trees, cute little shops, and eateries: When’s the next flight? That’s actually what Annie (Ella Rubin) wants to know as the series starts, when she discovers that she and her twin brother, Connor (Keen Ruffalo), have inherited that entire gorgeous island from a grandfather they never knew. The twins are New Yorkers through and through; Annie takes an Ambien for her flight to Toronto, unaware that it will only take 45 minutes. They were adopted at birth by Jay Duplass’s Steven and his wife, who died when they were young, and Steven has kept them in the dark about his late wife and the time she spent across the northern border.
Created by Megan Park, who also wrote and directed the winning Aubrey Plaza coming-of-age fantasy “My Old Ass,” “Sterling Point” breezily incorporates real emotions and conflicts — the anxious pangs of first love, the fear of losing the only way of life you’ve ever known, the conviction that you’re not as good as the rich, pretty kids — into the fun and sun.
There’s an art to making young people sound smart without making them sound like an Aaron Sorkin starter kit, and Park has that particular gift. She makes the “Sterling Point” crew quick and snarky without ever condescending to them. If you have a teenager, or if you’ve been a teenager, you’ll find something to relate to here, even if the material circumstances can seem fantastical. It makes perfect sense that Josh Schwartz, creator of the confectionary-but-filling teen drama “The O.C.,” is an executive producer.
When Annie arrives in Muskosa, she’s looking for answers, chiefly regarding the mysterious past of her mother. Of course, she finds a new world of friends, potential lovers, and even a sister, Ramona (Amélie Hoeferle), the biological daughter of Annie and Connor’s adoptive mother. Ramona is an islander, and she’s deeply suspicious of this big city interloper. She’s also in love with her best friend, Oona (Bo Bragason), a British flirt who likes to seduce unavailable straight women. Annie, meanwhile, draws the ardor of another islander, Ellis (Jacob Whiteduck-Lavoie), and the snooty-but-soulful Rory (Daniel Quinn Toye), a fellow New Yorker whose parents bought a fat spread on the island. Yes, it’s a young love triangle, like Prime Video’s “The Summer I Turned Pretty” and Netflix’s “My Life with the Walter Boys,” but it’s written and acted with a vision and conviction that surpasses the usual formula.
Rubin and Ruffalo make a great combination, and they’re utterly believable as bickering twins largely because they’re different enough to create the energy of friction. Annie is a hyper-alert, self-conscious beauty who charges into situations and asks questions later; the island seems to slow down her big-city motor even as it awakens her to new possibilities. Ruffalo has the kind of low-key edge that made his father, Mark, a star; his Connor trails the flow of the conversation and floats along on his own smartass wavelength, but he’s so charming that everyone ends up liking him. Connor is also a bit of a pragmatist; he really wants to sell the island and get rich, an outcome that would destroy the way of life that most of the show’s characters cherish.
It’s to the series’ credit that it largely avoids the go-go city slicker vs. down-to-earth islander cliches that are all but built into the premise. “Sterling Point” has an organic specificity, a care with character backstory and motivation, that makes it better than it needs to be. The wall-to-wall youngsters-in-love pop tunes and gorgeous settings do a fair amount of work, but Park’s writing voice — witty (the show boasts an inspired “Body Keeps the Score” joke) but heartfelt — is the real engine. It’s easy to see why Annie and Connor are charmed by the rhythms of life in Muskosa, and “Sterling Point” itself makes for a great place to visit.
STERLING POINT
Starring Ella Rubin, Amélie Hoeferle, Keen Ruffalo, Jacob Whiteduck-Lavoie, Daniel Quinn Toye, Bo Bragason, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Jay Duplass, Nikko Angelo Hinayo, Mabel Strachan, and Missi Pyle. All episodes on Prime Video.
Chris Vognar can be reached at chris.vognar@globe.com. Follow him on Instagram at @chrisvognar and on Bluesky at chrisvognar.bsky.social.