Episode 3 from season 2 of "HBO's" "Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty" called "The Second Coming" is one episode mixed with emotions and themes of drama, reflection, and memories. Starting off after the Lakers have been bounced out of the playoffs, they have to watch at home and see their chief rival "The Boston Celtics" win the 1981 "NBA" Championship over the Rockets. This puts steam and gets the angry blood flowing of both Magic and team owner Jerry Buss as they have to keep up with Larry Bird and Red Auerbach respectively. So Buss and Magic both have a plan of locking Johnson up to a long term deal, only will it affect team chemistry? And this episode has plenty of tense clash like scenes between head coach Paul Westhead and assistant Pat Riley and advisor and former player legend Jerry West, all of which is a power struggle. Aside from the purple and gold drama, this episode also focuses on the upbringing of one Larry Bird shown is his humble start in rural French Lick, Indiana as a pimple faced young man. Along the way one sees how Bird developed his game as an A plus shooter on the dirt courts. His younger days had setbacks from his struggle first at "Indiana" before "Indiana State", and his baggage of dealing with an alcoholic father which ends in tragedy. The flashbacks, and reel like montage footage is well done as the cinematography is in top notch form. Overall another good episode which sets up the series for it's next episode, also touching and sentimental was this episode ending with Willie Nelson's "Memories" song.
Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty (TV Series)
The Second Coming (2023)
User Reviews
Review this title2 Reviews
The Birth of Larry Legend - and too much more
That1MovieDude23 August 2023
Warning: Spoilers
In "The Second Coming", Episode 3 of "Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty", we get a glimpse of how Larry Bird came to be a Boston Celtic, and find Magic Johnson wanting his due respect from Lakers Owner Jerry Buss.
There's a lot going on in this episode, but there was just way too much packed into this episode to only contain 44 minutes. We kick off by seeing Buss' and Magic's frustration seeing Red Auerbach claim the 1981 NBA Championship. Buss can't let this happen again and starts holding exit interviews with The Coaching Staff, GM, and players to see what went wrong and what needs to happen to bring the Lakers back to Championship form.
The episode then starts one of several intermittent flashbacks to Larry Bird's younger days - High School through a conversation with Red Auerbach. It's not the flashbacks I have a problem with - it's the amount of them combined with several storylines going on at one time in this episode.
The Directors have a duty to continue a story that flows well both in their episodes and a season, and although themes and storylines are staying the same, it can be tough to really get a good grasp of them in a certain amount of running time - this one being only 44 minutes long (in comparison to episode one, which clocked in at 70 minutes).
The 44 minute episode conveys the following themes: Magic Johnson dozing off at his basketball camp, Buss' relationship with Honey, Buss' relationship with Jeanie and his family, Jeanie's tennis team, the ins and outs of Larry Bird's upbringing from High School to post NBA Draft and all the important people on that road with him, Magic's relationship with Cookie, the tension between Coach Westhead and Coach Riley, Coach Westhead's new assistant Mike Thibault, a player getting angry at a trade because Coach Westhead has a strong (and familiar) target, Buss' financial issues with the team, and what seems like so much more.
There's really nothing wrong with conveying storylines that are integral to the series, but this episode finally broke the teetering balance of doing too much. Add in the fact that Larry Bird's storyline was in and out, it was difficult to keep up and follow, unlike the prior two episodes.
Where the episode does well, much like the others, is in the characters and cinematography - The Larry Bird storyline was enjoyable to watch through the years and Sean Patrick Small is a joy to watch, much like everyone else in the series.
"The Second Coming" is just doing a bit too much for my liking, and although the show is forcing continuity in all the themes, it's got to a point where it's getting to be a bit too much. I'm hoping that the Directors find better balance in the upcoming episodes and the rest of the season as we likely head into the 1981-82 basketball season and all the drama surrounding the Lakers alongside with it.
There's a lot going on in this episode, but there was just way too much packed into this episode to only contain 44 minutes. We kick off by seeing Buss' and Magic's frustration seeing Red Auerbach claim the 1981 NBA Championship. Buss can't let this happen again and starts holding exit interviews with The Coaching Staff, GM, and players to see what went wrong and what needs to happen to bring the Lakers back to Championship form.
The episode then starts one of several intermittent flashbacks to Larry Bird's younger days - High School through a conversation with Red Auerbach. It's not the flashbacks I have a problem with - it's the amount of them combined with several storylines going on at one time in this episode.
The Directors have a duty to continue a story that flows well both in their episodes and a season, and although themes and storylines are staying the same, it can be tough to really get a good grasp of them in a certain amount of running time - this one being only 44 minutes long (in comparison to episode one, which clocked in at 70 minutes).
The 44 minute episode conveys the following themes: Magic Johnson dozing off at his basketball camp, Buss' relationship with Honey, Buss' relationship with Jeanie and his family, Jeanie's tennis team, the ins and outs of Larry Bird's upbringing from High School to post NBA Draft and all the important people on that road with him, Magic's relationship with Cookie, the tension between Coach Westhead and Coach Riley, Coach Westhead's new assistant Mike Thibault, a player getting angry at a trade because Coach Westhead has a strong (and familiar) target, Buss' financial issues with the team, and what seems like so much more.
There's really nothing wrong with conveying storylines that are integral to the series, but this episode finally broke the teetering balance of doing too much. Add in the fact that Larry Bird's storyline was in and out, it was difficult to keep up and follow, unlike the prior two episodes.
Where the episode does well, much like the others, is in the characters and cinematography - The Larry Bird storyline was enjoyable to watch through the years and Sean Patrick Small is a joy to watch, much like everyone else in the series.
"The Second Coming" is just doing a bit too much for my liking, and although the show is forcing continuity in all the themes, it's got to a point where it's getting to be a bit too much. I'm hoping that the Directors find better balance in the upcoming episodes and the rest of the season as we likely head into the 1981-82 basketball season and all the drama surrounding the Lakers alongside with it.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
