If you’re not watching MTV’s Finding Carter, you’re seriously missing out.

Finding Carter was one of the best surprises to come out of last year. While we had been looking forward to the show’s premiere, we had no idea just how fantastic this MTV scripted drama would be.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the show, Finding Carter is about a girl named Carter who, at 16, finds out that she was abducted from her childhood home at the age of three and had been living with her abductor (not her mom) for the past 13 years. The show follows her as she tries to acclimate herself to her “new” family and life while still dealing with the ramifications of her abduction (which includes the woman she thought was her mother).

It’s such an interesting premise. We’ve honestly never seen anything like it before, which is really refreshing, and we wish everyone would give it a try because it’s just so worth it.

If you’ve never thought about watching the show or if you perhaps fell behind by a few episodes and just gave up, here are a few reasons why you need to watch Finding Carter. Right now.

The show has an amazing theme song.

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Okay, so theme songs are supposed to be catchy. That’s why they’re theme songs. However, Finding Carter‘s is so much more than that. Every time we hear the song, we feel like we’ve gotten punched in the feels. Part of that is because of the show and part is because the lyrics of the song hit home. The fact that the theme is a Misterwives song makes it even better; they’re such an amazingly talented band and kill this song whenever they play it live (we can attest to it!). Have a listen to the song now!

The show accurately portrays high school relationships and drama.

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Aside from the fact that Carter (predictably) attracts all of the guys around her and has a few guys wanting to date her, Finding Carter‘s portrayal of the high school experience is rather true to life. There are peer pressures and strained relationships with parents, but there are also strong friendships and a normal high school birthday party. Sure, there’s some abnormal drama in Carter’s life, but the portrayed high school experience is relatively tame.

Carter’s abductor isn’t necessarily a villain.

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While there are always good guys and bad guys involved in serious crimes like abduction, the situation in Finding Carter isn’t as black and white. Yes, Lori, the woman who Carter thought was her mom, did abduct her as a child. However, instead of painting Lori as a total villain, the show works in a way to lend some sympathy to her side as well as cast doubt upon Carter’s real parents. It’s fascinating. That being said…

There is no right choice.

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It’s really not a spoiler to say that Carter struggles with deciding who to live with and who to trust. In just a few hours, her whole life turns upside-down and she’s relocated into her real family’s home. While that should be a happy ending for an abduction case, that’s not true on this show. Since nobody is 100% good or bad, there is no clear right choice as to who Carter should live with. Or trust. In fact, the show is built upon the mystery of finding out why the abduction actually happened (or what Lori’s real connection with her parents is), and we still don’t have all of the answers to that.

The characters all deal with the stress and drama in different and realistic ways.

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One of the things that we find most interesting about the show is its portrayal of stress, shock, and grief. What we love is how the show has all of the characters react in different ways to both Carter’s abduction and her return (which marks the start of the series). We can also see exactly how the two events shaped the people in Carter’s family, Carter included, and we can trace their actions and personalities back to Carter’s traumatic abduction.

Carter’s best friend Max is absolutely adorable.

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Seriously though. He wasn’t supposed to be a regular character, but he quickly became a fan-favorite character thanks to his charm and warm personality. And by “his,” we mean both the character’s and the actor’s charm and personality. Max is loyal and kind, through thick and thin. Plus, he’s simple in the absolute best way possible. We just love how real he is.

‘Finding Carter’ packs quite an emotional punch.

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While the series is relatively light-hearted for its subject matter, every episode has a dark current (or two) running through it. From the series’ main mystery to stories of broken homes, it’s impossible to avoid getting choked up while watching Finding Carter. We also may or may not have spontaneously busted into tears at work one day while discussing the show with people in our office. It’s safe to say that that has never happened to us before with any other show. Ever.

The cast is fantastic.

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Unlike other shows, there are no weak links in Finding Carter‘s cast. Even the character(s) that we greatly dislike are well-acted. As we mentioned above, there are no real bad or good characters. There are only complicated characters. It takes a lot of skill to make even the most frustrating and irritating characters slightly likable and really nuanced. The same goes for the actors giving the more innocent characters a visible dark side.

The second season starts tonight.

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After months upon torturous months of waiting, Finding Carter‘s much-anticipated second season premieres on MTV tonight at 10 p.m. EST. So, if you’ve never seen the show or you fell behind while watching last season, start watching now and you’ll be able to watch live next Tuesday night! Trust us when we say that this show is 100% worth your time. You can thank us later.

Still not 100% convinced that you want to start watching? Check out the trailer for the show’s first season! (We’d share the season two trailer but that would be too spoilery!)

Fans of ‘Finding Carter’: What do you love best about the show?

 
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