Mare fuori/The Sea Beyond (2020–) is a tv drama produced by Picomedia and Rai Fiction, now in its fifth year, with the next three seasons already in production. It was first broadcast on Raidue in September 2020, then made available also on Netflix in 2022. The considerable, and in some ways unexpected, success of this series can be explained by several interrelated reasons. The prison setting helps to activate several narrative strands, including the forced confrontation between young people and adults, the suspension of rules and habits typical of adolescence, and the forced acceptance of coexistence with people distant in terms of culture, class, and race. The plots, which revolve around the difficult experiences of detained adolescents and their quest for self-fulfilment, resonate with audiences affected by the narrowing of affective spaces in the pandemic. The chapter focuses on the persistence of melodramatic tropes in the narrative and textual structure of the series and draws a comparison—based on shared themes and visual tropes—between Mare fuori and the reality show Il collegio/The Boarding School (2017–), another popular programme broadcast by Raidue, which similarly presents narratives of control and discipline aimed at young people.