The "Dance Academy" upgrade
If your kid has already cycled through every season of The Next Step or Dance Academy, you know the drill: high-stakes pirouettes, locker room whispers, and a lot of "will-they-won't-they" energy. Find Me in Paris takes that template and adds a steampunk-lite time travel plot that is, frankly, more fun than it has any right to be. It’s a weird genre mashup, but it works because it doesn't try to be too gritty.
The show’s biggest flex is the setting. Filming at the actual Palais Garnier gives the whole thing a level of authenticity that most soundstage-bound tween shows lack. You can tell the production didn't just rent a local gym and throw some barres in it. For a kid who spends twenty hours a week in a studio, seeing the literal roof of the Paris Opera House matters. It elevates the show from "another teen soap" to something that feels a bit more aspirational.
Fish out of water, but make it fashion
The heart of the show is Lena Grisky’s transition from 1905 royalty to 21st-century teenager. While the time-travel mechanics are thin, the cultural clash is where the writers actually put in the work. Watching a Russian Princess try to figure out hip-hop dance or why people wear leggings as pants provides most of the humor.
It’s also a sneaky way to talk about how much the world has changed for girls. Lena is used to a world of corsets and rigid social hierarchies; seeing her embrace the freedom of the modern world—even with all its social media drama—is a solid throughline. She isn’t a damsel waiting for a prince to rescue her from the past; she’s a worker who wants to earn her spot at the top of the call sheet.
The "Time Collector" friction
I’ll be honest: the sci-fi elements can be a bit mid. The "Time Collectors"—the villains tasked with bringing Lena back to 1905—often feel like they wandered in from a different, lower-budget show. They’re a bit campy, bordering on Power Rangers territory, which might make older teens roll their eyes.
If your kid is a hardcore sci-fi fan looking for tight logic and high stakes, they’ll be disappointed. The time travel is really just a vehicle to get Lena into modern-day Paris and create some "secret identity" tension. The real stakes are always about the mid-year exams or the big performance, not the space-time continuum.
Why it sticks the landing
Despite the 6.9 IMDb score, which usually signals "watchable but forgettable," this show has a massive, loyal following for a reason. It hits that sweet spot of being clean enough for an eight-year-old but dramatic enough that a thirteen-year-old won't feel insulted.
It also handles the "mean girl" tropes better than most. The rivalries feel rooted in actual competition and talent rather than just being mean for the sake of the plot. If you have a kid who is "dance-obsessed" but you’re tired of the hyper-sexualized or overly cynical world of some reality dance shows, this is a much better neighborhood to hang out in. It’s wholesome, sure, but it has enough French flair and time-bending weirdness to keep it from being boring.
