Is there any point to it?
Growing up I was never a huge fan of the Fresh Prince, I thought it wasn’t that funny and it didn’t mean a lot to me. There were episodes here and there that were a good laugh, mainly the chemistry between Geoffrey (Joseph Marcell) and Uncle Phil (James Avery), two incredibly talented actors that didn’t get enough recognition at the time. While the actual message of the show was rarely developed, the episodes are at its best when they dive into problems like gun-violence, fighting, racism, and equality. Those were some very powerful moments of the show and is what keeps the show alive today. I think I would’ve definitely appreciated the show more if they had balanced those two a lot more to actually get their message across. But at the end of the day, it simply became another badly aged sitcom and that’s why I rarely go back to it now that I’m older.
Fast forward to 2022 and here we are with the brand new Bel-Air series available on Peacock and 7 other streaming websites for some reason. Originally inspired by the 2019 fan film, Will Smith gets bailed out of jail after getting caught with a gun while at the basketball court in the late evening. Now even though Bel-Air keeps the name and all the original characters,
it really is trying to be its own show, however instead of coming up with something original, they just use a name that will catch people’s attention. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t and I’ll get into that…
It’s 𝘯𝘰𝘵 all bad…
There’s a lot of things this show has going, Jabari Banks does a great job not only playing a new adaptation of Will Smith but also keeps the charm of the original Fresh Prince. Now for a less popular opinion, Carlton is by far the most under-appreciated character in the show. I love that they took his anxiety seriously and that while he has his moments as a jerk, deep down he’s just a misguided person jealous of Will’s quick success at Bel-Air Academy. Uncle Phil has his moments in the show as well, the balance between his focus on District Attorney and trying to keep his family in line is interesting sometimes, however I can’t say he has any noteworthy moments, he’s just decent.
Aunt Viv is given a bigger role in Bel-Air, struggling to discover her return to painting, while also taking the responsibility for the nephew and kids when Uncle Phil’s campaign starts to get more serious. Jazz runs with two identities, he has clearly used Jazzy Jeff as an example for his character, there are moments where you’re like “Oh yeah, that’s Jazz” and then there are other moments where we see a more unexpected more serious side. His personality mixes between that same Jazzy Jeff vibe but also is a bit more logical as a person and we get to see his business side in action a couple of times. Geoffrey is different, he’s not really a butler. More of a task manager, takes care of groceries, gives Phil advice, takes care of “problems” you could say and is there for the kids when they need an extra hand. Lisa is introduced into the series right off the bat in the first episode, essentially a new character just keeping the same alias. She dated Carlton and even though it’s not clear, it seems they broke up about 6 months to a year ago. Weird to imagine these guys are only 16 turning 17 now. They really don’t look that young, and it’s something you’ll notice with a lot of the characters moving later into the show.
Hilary & Ashley are what makes the show quickly become painful, unfortunately Ashley is supposed to be 12 year old girl, however she looks and acts like a 14 or 15 year old teenager (The actress is 15). Most of her script lines revolve around climate change and pushing an LGBTQ political agenda. In my opinion, it goes too far and makes her scenes worth skipping. Hilary has a good balance of screen time in the first 3 episodes and that’s why she doesn’t become a problem until they use her as filler scenes in the coming episodes. They chose to portray her as a Barbie girl and she is quite possibly the most cringe and annoying character in the show. Most of her scenes are actually quite irrelevant and if you do end up skipping them, you may actually enjoy the show better. Unfortunately, I don’t believe she was the right actress for the role and I think she was extremely overused. The show is about Will, so if you choose to skip her scenes, you’ll lose very little valuable information towards the show.
𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡 Prince?
What does stand out as unique about this show is the very clear stakes. The strong opening act makes it apparent that Banks’ Will is more of a fair-haired boy in his West Philly high school: popular, getting good grades, and a basketball star with recruitment potential. Clearly not the dorky neighborhood cut-up, this Will is also more temperamental, especially when pushed by the local drug dealers who don’t like that he won’t work for them. When Will’s ego is damaged in public, he drags his best friend Tray into a high-stakes 2-on-2 street game against the neighborhood dealer’s flunky that ends up angering the local drug lord and gets Will arrested. Far from “a little fight,” the amplified stakes put Will’s life in imminent danger, which is why his scared mom, Vy, packs him off to family in Bel Air Los Angeles the next morning.
“You’re movin’ with your auntie and uncle in Bel-Air”
Regardless, the first 4 episodes have a lot of packed content and if you’re willing to cringe through the dull and lackluster Hilary and Ashley moments or just skip them as an entirety, the show continues to keep you grounded. What does occur sometimes, is a choppy hybrid of the aspirational luxuriousness of the Uber rich Banks’ lifestyle with the lingering unresolved guilt Will has about leaving his mom and Tray behind in Philly. And Will is still just being introduced to everything, especially when he’s made to navigate an array of way-too-fast storylines in the first handful of episodes. There’s a feud with Carlton, a potential love triangle involving Carlton’s ex, completely unnecessary feuds with acquaintances, a racial confrontation at Will’s new school, and constant political arguing. There’s so much more, and it’s way too packed in every episode. The show has it’s moments in the sun and it seemed like the first 3 episodes were planned out best. The beginning of the show is extremely dramatic and that new tone draws you in. But as the series gets into its rhythm it rolls more like soap. Kind of overacted, played for drama but not in a captivating story arc way, more of a ‘this thing, then that thing’ flow and quickly just becomes a choppy series that struggles to maintain any tone that it began with. In Fresh Prince, you can feel for Will but in this one, he’s got everything handed to him on a silver platter. He likes a girl, he quickly becomes popular at school, joins a basketball team, gets way too many privileges. This is something Will had even before he was at Bel-Air and it always makes this drama kind of hard to appreciate when there is literally nothing Will already doesn’t have.
I’ve always said and will continue to say that 10 episode seasons don’t work, they just don’t. For a big story, you can’t smoothly get everything in without 1–3 episodes having crammed moments. Episode 6 is a really good episode especially when focused on Carlton. Episode 7 is quite possibly the most annoying episode especially when it comes to Will’s character and it’s by far the most controversial episode. Episode 8 & 9 are decent, the build-up and questioning about Lou Smith really was the main thing that kept me hooked and was hidden well. Episode 10 is once again a very crammed episode but has some interesting moments. Marlon Waynes did a terrific job playing the role as Lou Smith which shocked me because I usually can’t stand anything Waynes is in and seeing him in a darker more frustrated character proves that he could do more as an actor. While the episode is cut short, this is quite possibly the best and most entertaining episode since Episode 3. While it continues to flip and flop, it’s still a show with potential to keep it interesting, but at the end of the day Bel-Air can’t rewrite what has already taken place. This show will go down as something that isn’t even relatable to its targeted audience and is more about a blue eyed boy trying to determine what is family and what is not.
If instead it had been gently pressed by its precursor and bravely subverted expectations by ever-changing things up right away, the show would have solely benefited from that distance. Instead, everything is strained by the past, from Phil still being bald to Geoffrey’s (Jimmy Akingbola) slight upgrade to accommodate manager rather than butler, and there’s nothing
natural concerning this drama making an attempt to force a sitcom square peg into its dramatic round hole. If Bel-Air hopes to be something that can be taken seriously, it needs to work a lot harder to become it’s own thing. And like I said, while it has improved, it can’t recover from what it already has set in stone for Will’s character in Season 1. This show will never be great and you won’t ever be able to really feel for Will. Because this is a spoiled brat who has had everything perfectly setup for him. Now tell me, how can a plot benefit from such a narrow minded concept. I guess we will see what the writers choose to do following that very questionable ending.
