Set in the cutthroat world of high school You. Centered on the co-dependent friendship between bad-girl Beth and her right hand, Addy, what starts as a teenage drama ripe with destructive desire and liberated excess soon turns darker when a beautiful and icy new cheer coach, Colette French, arrives in town.
From tumultuous affairs and reckless partying to manipulation, obsession, and murder, here are Dare Me's Season 1 episodes, ranked according to IMDb.
Coup D'Etat (7.0)
Dare Me's season premiere finds Beth and Addy's small-town Ohio cheer team rocked by the arrival of big-shot coach Colette French. While Addy's immediately drawn to Coach, Beth finds her position of power threatened when Colette gives the top pyramid spot to Beth's younger estranged half-sister, Tacy. Beth worries that everything's changing and pulls out a gun at a bonfire party in a bid to gain Addy's attention. Things get ugly when Beth and Addy stumble upon Colette having an affair with Marine Recruiter Sarge Will.
Backed by a killer soundtrack and stylized visuals, audiences appreciated the authentic characters and hints of mystery as the series set up a swath of moral and character conflicts.
Shock & Awe (7.8)
In the season finale, Beth's digging into Will's murder finally pays off after she pries information from Kurtz about Coach's affair with Will. Coach continues to manipulate Addy into silence. At the last game of the season, the police arrive to arrest Kurtz and Beth blows up at Addy, begging her to see Colette's true intentions. In a shocking final moment, Coach betrays Addy, only to learn the hamza bracelet Addy gave her may have been left at the crime scene. Matt was also at Will's apartment that night, and the fractured couple frantically searches for the bracelet.
With a few solid twists and heartbreaking betrayal, the episode raised questions about Matt's involvement in Will's death while finally giving Beth her well-earned redemption moment as Addy realizes that Beth may be the only person in her life with her best intentions in mind.
Rapprochement (7.9)
Beth brings her cheer squad to a wild, drug-fuelled party at the Playland Motel and gets herself in trouble with Kurtz. Beth's fiery facade is starting to slip as she loses control and faces her callous actions against Tracy in an emotionally loaded therapy session. Colette sneaks off with Will. The party is busted by cops and Addy finds Beth unconscious in the back of a car. Without many options, Addy drives Beth to Coach's for help and is met by a furious Colette; perhaps their friendship doesn't go both ways after all.
Beth and Colette are both predators dead-set on having the upper hand, and the audience sees these traits spark more clearly as the power struggle for control of the squad -- and of Addy -- rages on.
Fog Of War (8.0)
Conflicts and emotions come to a boiling-over point as Colette spirals and Addy struggles to keep a prying Beth at arm's length. With Sarge Will's death public, the town teens hold a wake. Addy and Beth slow dance under the artificial phone lights, seeming to find some emotional catharsis and reprieve in each other. It's a gentle reminder that the fractured duo still has a connection, even amid brutal fighting. When Addy drunkenly eludes to having seen Will's dead body, Beth takes the information and runs with it, bent on destroying Coach and all the power she holds.
With the fog clearing on what really happened the night of Will's death, viewers are rewarded with some new crumbs of evidence and see the effects of Addy's affection for Coach warping her perception.
Containment (8.0)
The after-effects of Colette calling Addy to the scene of Will's death are starting to seep out, and Addy es out at school. Beth knows something is up and the girls share a tense moment in the nurse's office; Beth loves Addy, but the pain of Addy's choices and Beth's powerlessness manifests as a menace. Addy visits Coach, who spins a false narrative about her troubled marriage and stages a breakdown in a bid to manipulate Addy's emotions. Addy flashes back to the night Beth gave her her hamza and they kissed, burning with sweetness and youthful longing.
Viewers confirm that Colette is not a good person and that, though ruthless and rash, Beth will protect Addy at all costs. The hamza flashback provides the audience with a window into Beth and Addy's past relationship, perhaps when times were simpler.
Surrender at Discretion (8.0)
Colette's decisions are put under the spotlight when she brings Addy on her date with Will in the woods, leading Addy to fantasize about Coach and all that is forbidden. The girls drink and party at Colette's house, and she revels in this teen spirit. The tension between Tacy and Beth gets ugly when Beth bullies her into an ice bath competition and the younger girl es out. Beth hooks up with Kurtz to feel in control, and Addy is turned off seeing Coach play Matt.
The episode elucidates the most dysfunctional relationships at the heart of the show, where everything is a push and pull for power and everyone is on their worst behavior.
Mutually Assured Destruction (8.0)
After the affair bomb is dropped on Addy and Beth, Colette scrambles to ensure the duo keeps it a secret. Beth won't be controlled and lies to Addy about having video proof of Colette and Will, and the trust between the girls is tested. Addy finds herself drawing closer to Coach, desiring success and a life greater than small-town Ohio. Coach calls off her relationship with Will, but pressing from Addy leads her back to his bed.
The episode burns with ion and sin as audiences watch Addy, Beth, and Coach all make selfish choices.
Code Red (8.2)
Will begins to spiral after fighting with Kurtz over warning recruit Michael not to the military and seeing Colette out with Matt and their child. Beth continues to have nightmares about Kurtz but cannot confide in Addy, who is too focused on taking RiRi's regionals spot to notice something is awry. Colette manages to defuse Will but blows off an important dinner with Matt. When she arrives home, she reveals she's been in a car accident, drawing false sympathy. Beth and Addy run together like old times.
There's pervasive darkness throughout as Beth deals with her trauma and Will teeters off the rails. Colette's lingering moments with Addy become increasingly manipulative, as the audience is pulled into the toxic cycle of adoration.
Scorched Earth (8.4)
The squad arrives at regionals. When Beth slinks off for mandatory dinner with her parents, Addy shares a charged moment with Coach in the sauna. Colette knows Addy has feelings for her and revels in the control. Beth confronts Addy before the team's set about her obsession with Coach instead of her, and Addy callously suggests Beth isn't Coach. The girls win regionals, but things take a turn for the worst when Colette calls Addy to Will's apartment in the middle of the night, only to find Will dead.
Psychological games, violence, and manipulation make for a propulsive episode with a shock ending that rattles the audience and finally reveals the unlucky murder victim.
Parallel Trenches (8.5)
This episode sunk its teeth into darker themes. Switching from the perspectives of Coach, Addy, and Beth, Addy is left in the cold by her two main women after the motel party went awry. Beth is traumatized by Kurtz's assault but everyone's too self-involved to notice, while Colette lashes out at Addy's stupid choices. RiRi suffers a grotesque injury when a mistake by Tacy causes her teeth to get kicked out, and Colette cracks under the realization she might be failing.
Beth's vulnerability and Coach's unraveling showed the audience softer sides of the series' biggest predators, and viewers won't be able to get the sight of that bloody, teeth-strewn mat out of their head. The episode foreshadows the violence and emotional destruction to come with great success.