I really wanted to like this show. And I did...sort of. It feels authentic, personal, and heartfelt, but the story and artistic direction are lacking. The show is more episodic than I hoped for, which is fine, but when scenes drag on and jokes fall flat as often as they do here, I can't help but feel that something is seriously missing here.
As far as artistic direction is concerned, you can't help but notice this show is A LOT like 'Atlanta.' In an interview with Complex, Vince even admitted he consulted with Donald Glover while making this show. The grittiness, darkness, and surrealism of 'Atlanta' works wonders for that show and elevates Glover to auteur status. Here, those artistic elements feel less stellar, more sterile. In the wake of 'Atlanta', 'Dave', and other rapper-multi-hyphenate creative projects, a show like this feels almost obligatory-like a brand-building exercise more than a creative one.
However, I do have to give credit to the episode "Black Business" for its funny moments. The connection between Vince and the bank robber was genuinely hilarious and an example of satire done right (within the context of both Vince and the robber being unable to get access to capital). "Brown Family" also stood out to me as funny and relatable, to be fair. Miss Anita stole the show for sure.
Unfortunately, the rest of the episode (and the series) get held back by its artistic ties to 'Atlanta.' The last two episodes might as well have been 'Atlanta' deleted scenes. The dark, surrealist twist to "Red Door" came across as awkward but it was novel compared to the rest of the series. When you pull that same trick again in the finale of "White Boy," I start skipping scenes to cure my boredom. If those twists had a greater narrative tie to the rest of the episode, I would excuse them, but they seem heavy-handed, almost cliché compared to 'Atlanta,' this show's undeniable influence.
As far as artistic direction is concerned, you can't help but notice this show is A LOT like 'Atlanta.' In an interview with Complex, Vince even admitted he consulted with Donald Glover while making this show. The grittiness, darkness, and surrealism of 'Atlanta' works wonders for that show and elevates Glover to auteur status. Here, those artistic elements feel less stellar, more sterile. In the wake of 'Atlanta', 'Dave', and other rapper-multi-hyphenate creative projects, a show like this feels almost obligatory-like a brand-building exercise more than a creative one.
However, I do have to give credit to the episode "Black Business" for its funny moments. The connection between Vince and the bank robber was genuinely hilarious and an example of satire done right (within the context of both Vince and the robber being unable to get access to capital). "Brown Family" also stood out to me as funny and relatable, to be fair. Miss Anita stole the show for sure.
Unfortunately, the rest of the episode (and the series) get held back by its artistic ties to 'Atlanta.' The last two episodes might as well have been 'Atlanta' deleted scenes. The dark, surrealist twist to "Red Door" came across as awkward but it was novel compared to the rest of the series. When you pull that same trick again in the finale of "White Boy," I start skipping scenes to cure my boredom. If those twists had a greater narrative tie to the rest of the episode, I would excuse them, but they seem heavy-handed, almost cliché compared to 'Atlanta,' this show's undeniable influence.