YMMV / The Sea Beyond

• Abandon Shipping:
  • Gianni and Gemma were a popular ship early on, but they lost some supporters in the season 2 finale when Gemma cheated on Gianni with Fabio (her murderous, abusive ex-boyfriend), ruining Gemma's Character Development. Then the writers officially killed the ship in early season 3, by making them break-up and having Gemma being Put on a Bus.
  • Filippo and Naditza were the main couple in the first two seasons, but in season 3 Naditza suddenly turns into a Derailing Love Interests who literally abandons Filippo. Then they are both Put on a Bus, though it's shown that Filippo still sees Naditza as his One True Love.
  • Many fans loved Carmine/Nina in season 1. But sadly Nina died in early season 2. Now Carmine/Rosa is easily the most popular ship on the show, and many forgot about Nina.
• Base-Breaking Character:
  • Rosa Ricci. She's the Breakout Character and many fans love her for being a Little Miss Badass and her Ship Tease with Carmine, but other people think that all her "tough girl" scenes are more cringy and Narmy than anything else, and also find her whole "Romeo/Juliet" storyline with Carmine unnecessary.
  • Gemma also gets the hit with this. Many fans find her Unintentionally Unsympathetic for her reckless choices, like dating Fabio and later cheating on Gianni with Fabio himself. But, some of the fans find her a cute and endearing Woobie and like her relationship with Gianni.
  • Most fans liked Naditza for being the strongest female in the series, who is an All-Loving Hero to most girls in prison. Some were against her for the way she treated Filippo and she has lost her fans by abandoning Filippo in season 3.
  • Edoardo is a popular character for being a cool bad boy Anti-Villain, has the most fangirls, and Matteo Paolillo's acting performance and contribution to the soundtrack (including the theme song) are usually appreciated. But there are also fans who find him way too unlikable in season 2, where he's at his most Jerkass (thankfully, many characters call him out on it). He gets better in season 3, where he's still a villain, but has more sympathetic moments.
  • Pino. Most people like him for being the goofiest and funniest character in the series, others have tensions with him for being kind of racist to Diego and his jealousy with Kubra. Some won’t forgive him for what he did to Filippo in season one. However Pino had gained fans for his character development in season two.
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment:
  • The fifth episode of Season 1 ends with Pino sexually assaulting Filippo in the bathroom. The scene only has the purpose of showing how hard is Filippo's prison life, and it's never brought up again. Starting in season 2, Pino turns into a nicer character and a loyal friend to Filippo, with neither of them mentioning that moment at all.
  • Silvia and Lino (one of the prison guards) sharing one passionate kiss in the penultimate episode of season 3, when Lino drives Silvia to Alfredo's house. It was completely out of the blue and the two characters hardly ever interacted before. And after the kiss with Lino, Silvia gets back together with Alfredo, as if nothing happened. Unless they will later explain it in the upcoming season 4, it's still unclear what that scene is supposed to mean.
• Die for Our Ship:
  • Fabio is loathed by the Gianni/Gemma shippers for getting in the way of their relationship.
  • Carmela gets this from Edoardo/Teresa shippers who even accuse her of being a Lady Macbeth to Edoardo and a bad influence on him. In reality, Edoardo is a proud criminal who involves Carmela in his business.
  • In contrast, Teresa gets some hate from Edoardo/Carmela shippers, who accuse her of "getting in the way of a married couple with a baby", when Teresa didn't even know it in the beginning and broke up with Edoardo as soon as she found out.
• Draco in Leather Pants:
  • Edoardo is a violent bully, a delinquent, a liar, an adulterer, and a neglectful father (who cares mores about his mistress than his baby son), but he's the most popular character among viewers. On Youtube videos about his worst Kick the Dog moments, you will find that most of the comments are actually praising him, cheering for him, calling him "hot", or trying to justify him. It helps that he's handsome and charismatic, he gets fanservice scenes about his love life, and that the victims of his Jerkass behavior (his wife Carmela, his baby son, his mistress Teresa, Teresa's unnamed friend, Sasà, and Gaetano in season 3) are minor or unpopular characters.
  • Ciro gets this to a lesser extent. Everyone knows he's a bad guy, as he was the main villain in season 1, and he has much more haters than Edoardo, but he still has his fangirls too.
• Epileptic Trees: A very common fan theory is that Ciro, who died at the end of season 1, is actually still alive and will come back. To support this theory, there's the fact that we have never seen his funeral on-screen, the other characters constantly talk about him after his death, and there's a mysterious photo on social media about Ciro (or his actor) with a gun, in the same location of the season 3 finale. The creator of the series already said that she had never heard of that photo and it's not part of the script. Ciro's actor Giacomo Giorgio also confirmed the death of his character but fans keep speculating about it.
• Evil Is Cool:
  • Ciro and Edoardo openly embrace criminality and the Camorra, and they are both portrayed as charismatic, badass, clever, and attractive. Although they are both supposed to be Anti Role Models, they are still idolized by many fans.
  • Viola, to an extent. Despite being an unlikable villain and an utterly creepy Hate Sink, she is still a cunning tough girl, a master manipulator, terrifying to the point of being feared by (almost) everyone, and even has Ciro at her feet.
• Harsher in Hindsight: Gemma and Silvia wished that Viola would be dead, two episodes later, Viola committed suicide by jumping off from the roof.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: This is not the first time where an Italian Teen Drama of the 2020s features an arrogant, womanizing bad boy named Edoardo who falls in love with a mature and responsible Nice Girl. There is also one in the Italian version of Skam.
• Ho Yay:
  • Filippo and Carmine's bromance. They often get touchy-feely in their scenes, and they probably have told "I love you" more often to each other than to their respective love interests.
  • Edoardo and Totò kiss each other on the lips in their goodbye scene. It's probably part of the Camorra culture.
  • Filippo and Gianni have their moments.
• Hype Backlash: The show has become a pop culture phenomenon among Italian viewers (especially teenagers) after it was brought on Netflix, and it was ranked in the top 10 most watched series in Italy for 18 weeks. It's not uncommon, however, to find people who find it overrated or even a terrible show, and just wish the others would stop talking about it.
• Jerkass Woobie:
  • Most of the inmates. They all have committed crimes, but they are teenagers and most of them have a Freudian Excuse and a sad backstory. And given the nature of the show, they all go through tragedies even more now that they are in prison.
  • Carmela is a bossy and catty girl, but in season 3, we found out in her backstory that she has no mother, her father tries to rape her. On top of this, her boyfriend/husband Edoardo constantly cheats on her with Teresa making her feel vulnerable and heartbroken.
  • Pino. He is one insane and violent guy, but you can’t help but feel bad for him when Gateano killed his dog and his so called “friends” betrayed him in the late season one.
• Jerks Are Worse Than Villains: In season 4, some characters who get a lot of hate are Kubra (for neglecting Pino and eventually leaving him), Teresa (for getting in the way of Edoardo/Carmela), Giulia (for being a cringy and obnoxious Jerkass), and Luigi/Cucciolo (for his cringy scenes with Rosa, and getting in the way of Carmine/Rosa). On the other hand, murderous Camorra criminals like Edoardo and Wanda (and Ciro in early episodes) are loved by fans, as they are charismatic and have their own code of honor despite their villainy.
• Les Yay:
  • Rosa & Carmela during their friendship and sisterhood.
  • Silvia and Kubra have their moments, they even shared a kiss.
  • Rosa and Viola, also combined with Foe Yay Shipping, since they are archenemies who shared one kiss, which is implied to be at least partially genuine (from Viola, at least). They even have the Portmanteau Couple Name Lilla ("lilac") due to their Colourful Theme Naming, since Rosa means "pink" and Viola means "purple".
• Love to Hate: Carmine's mother Wanda is a villain and a crime leader, but she's an appreciated character by fans. Mainly because she's strong, has Hidden Depths, and her acting performance is considered one of the best in the cast.
• Memetic Mutation: The name "Rosa Ricci!" is one of the most quoted things by fans, mainly because the show makes a big deal out of this character, using Full-Name Basis, both by Rosa herself and other people.
  "I am Rosa Ricci and who the fuck are you to tell me what I have to do!"
  "Don't you recognize me, Di Salvo? I am Rosa Ricci, Ciro's sister..."
  "Hey, Rosa Ricci!"
  "Nobody should ever touch Rosa Ricci, Mimmo!"
• Moral Event Horizon: Viola was already horrible herself, in the late season two, she called Gemma’s ex-boyfriend, Fabio to think that Gemma was still in love with him. This lands Gemma to cheat on Gianni with Fabio.
• Narm Charm: While teenagers seem to find this series amazing, the older viewers are more more divided. Many hate it, while others recognize that the series is very flawed (continuity errors, unrealistic situations, gratuitous fanservice for teenagers, and several ridiculous scenes) but still watch it as a sort of guilty pleasure, and because you can really empathize with the characters, despite everything.
• Replacement Scrappy: Many of the fans didn’t like Sofia, and thought Paola was the better fit than her.
• Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: In the first two seasons, Gaetano was the most hated character along with Viola. But between the season 2 finale and season 3, he has a Heel Realization and genuinely tries to change and become a good person. It was very sad to see him die as a Heroic Sacrifice to save his parents. He probably had the most positive Character Development of all the characters, even more than Pino.
• Ron the Death Eater: Teresa gets more hate than Edoardo, while the fans prefer to pity Carmela more. Teresa is a Nice Girl, but the fans portrayed her to be a selfish, mindless bimbo who gets in a way of Edoardo and Carmela's relationship, even though she didn't know that Edoardo has a girlfriend and a son. She gets worse in Season 4.
• Ship-to-Ship Combat: Edoardo/Carmela vs. Edoardo/Teresa. Those who prefer his First Love Carmela believe that family is more important, because she's his wife and the mother of his child (it helps that season 3 gives Carmela more Sympathetic P.O.V. about her sad backstory and love for Edoardo, including flashbacks about how they fell in love for the first time). Those who prefer his Second Love Teresa believe that only a Nice Girl like Teresa can change Edoardo for the better (it helps that the Edoardo/Teresa relationship gets more focus in the first two seasons, and it's implied that Edoardo still loves Teresa more, even in season 3). Both girls get a Die for Our Ship from the other shipping side.
• Take That, Scrappy!:
  • After being a Karma Houdini for many episodes, it's satisfying to see Viola getting a comeuppance, such as being beaten up by Kubra (Season 2) and Rosa (Season 3).
  • Viola's eventual death was a Catharsis Factor for some viewers, but it got Cry for the Devil reactions from other viewers because of the tragic way she killed herself.
  • Fabio, when he was accidentally killed by Gianni.
• Unpopular Popular Character: Carmine is a No-Respect Guy who is hated by many characters who would just want to kill him. Among viewers, he's The Woobie and one of the most popular characters, which makes sense since he's the protagonist.
• The Woobie:
  • Carmine was unfairly prisoned for killing someone who was raping his girlfriend. Also, he's known as a "sheep" because people hate him and call him a coward, just because he's not interested in the Camorra business of his family. Then his wife died in season 2.
  • Filippo accidentally killed his best friend and ended up in prison. In the early episodes, he was always mocked and teased by the other prisoners. He was also sexually molested by Pino, who forced him to jerk him off, in the shower.
  • Nina, for being getting accidentally killed at her own wedding.
  • Gianni who comes from a poor family with his abusive father and then accidentally killing Fabio in order to protect Gemma.
  • Gemma, to a lesser extent. She is a young woman who has to deal with her abusive Jerkass boyfriend, Fabio.