March Watchlist: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly
Spring has sprung! As the Northern Hemisphere ushers in a new season, I look forward to streaming refreshed content. We’ll delve into the latest drama, thriller and docu-series returning and premiering this month. I have streamed two of the three titles already; so far I am less than thrilled by what is coming down the pike as far as original content goes.
Over the last year or so, content across streamers and television has been substandard. A lot of shows and movies are either lackluster - ‘Abbott Elementary’ is not as funny as it tries to be - or surreptitiously guilty of pigeonholing Black characters into a modernized, hollow stereotype. (I’ll be writing a post about the new-age mammy coded as a health professional, soon!)
Is this truly the downfall of the most recent entertainment golden age, in the U.S. at least? We’ll revisit that theory at another time. (I found some older African titles from 2019-2021 that were worth catching and I’ll share those soon.) Until then, below are a few fresh picks for this month and the review/rating that I give to each title.
Blood & Water (Season 4)
(Minor spoilers regarding general plot, season arc and character development of season 4.)
The long awaited fourth season is finally here! And unfortunately it was simultaneously confusing, overpowering, and underwhelming.
After watching the first two episodes I was a little thrown off. The story goes in a vastly different direction, and it’s admittedly a lot to grasp. I would recommend that you pace yourself when watching this season as the storyline was chaotic, intense, and had me unpleasantly dreaming about the show after watching the last four episodes consecutively; I had media consumption indigestion, if you will.
Outside of the story feeling desultory, season four’s characters were a mess! The show’s writing and acting really suffered this year.
Most of the new characters, and those who were further developed from past seasons like Pauline, Zayd and Bruce, are largely unlikeable and their respective actors delivered disappointing interpretations. Actress Wanda Banda gave a terrible performance as Asanda Makeba - I didn’t even remember the character’s name and had to peruse multiple online articles to find it! - and her character was unnecessarily and precariously inserted into the fold. I am glad they added another brown-skinned Black girl to the show but they could have done a lot more with Asanda and her connection to the core cast/her tie-in to the story. They could have also done a better job with a few filler sidekicks.
Netflix had been trying to generate buzz by doing a spicy crossover with a Spanish teen drama called ‘Elite.’ I have never seen it, nor am I interested. In that show’s most recent season they featured Fikile Bhele from ‘Blood & Water’. In season 4 of ‘Blood & Water’ they featured Iván Carvalho of ‘Elite.’ His character’s cameo was pretty pointless, fleeting and just did not fit.
Conversely, actor Leroy Siyafa was much more convincing in his portrayal of Sam Nkosana than he was in his first season (season two). Cindy Mahlangu as Zama Bolton and Greteli de Swardt (née Fincham) as Reece van Rensburg, the latter of whom makes scant appearances, were missed this season. All in all, the character development and the ways in which they related to each other was disjointed and poorly executed.
That said, Puleng Khumalo remains quite the main character. She is the most persistent, determined, unfazed and confident badass I have seen in a long time. I love her character but I would like to see her more developed in the sense of seeing her enjoy life. The lead actress, Ama Qamata, noted in one of her interviews that she asked a director of the show what makes Puleng happy - I would also like to know the answer to that question!? I would like to see Puleng on vacation or having a fabulous birthday party without the threat of despondent drama constantly looming in the background. I understand that the premise of the show is just that, but can we see her living a soft life at least for one day? I would also like to see the birthday party to find out this girl’s zodiac sign; she is an indomitable young woman. I noted that Fikile is a popular, fashionable Leo and KB is a brooding, tragic Scorpio (no shade, KB is my boo and yes, I am team Kuleng).
The best characters (and their respective actors) of the show are Puleng Khumalo and the original core cast: Fikile Bhele, KB Molapo, Wade Daniels, Puleng’s family, Fikile’s parents, Wendy Dlamini, Reece van Rensburg, Chris Ackerman, Zama Bolton, Janet Nkosana and even Tahira Khan. They all do so well and the other weak actors bring the genius of their very talented co-stars down, which is frustrating. The constant inauguration of additional main characters (new students) each season is also irksome and should be slowed down.
Hopefully the next season can redirect the focus back to the principal story and how it unfolds instead of introducing something completely different from the past. That seemed weird and forced. The fourth season had a slew of new writers and directors and I’m not sure why they felt the need to deviate so heavily from the broader story arc.
Again, I know that it’s a crime drama, but can we get a balance of tragedy and levity like we did in season two? That was the best season thus far, and I had been rewatching those episodes to fill in the time until the fourth installment premiered. Mmabatho Montsho was a writer and director on seasons two and three and penned my favorite episode of season two; she was phenomenal. The high-stakes tension in season three was absolutely necessary but…let’s get back on track with showing how high schoolers can also have young adult problems that have nothing to do with sinister criminals. I felt like the show started giving South Africa such a bad rap with the amount of delinquents and elaborate threats the teens had to encounter. I know that the country isn’t exactly the safest but sheesh, it’s a show about teenagers. Is this amount of peril at all reflective of South African secondary schools?
My rating: 5.6/10
Single Black Female 2: Simone’s Revenge
I think that a lot of women, myself included, enjoy watching the pathological and love-gone-wrong stories that color Lifetime. I can watch a romcom, a thriller, a drama; I enjoy the range of stories about women that I can see on the channel. The network’s recent foray into producing more movies starring Black women is especially appealing.
Entertainment’s representations of the layered human nature of Black women is already super scant, but the representation of plus-sized, brown-skinned, monoracial Black women who are not acting as desperate, sexless (or hypersexual), sidekick mammies is nearly nonexistent. I recommend this article expounding on the lack of multidimensional plus-sized Black women that we see in television and film.
Shortly after the aforementioned piece was penned and published in 2022, ‘Single Black Female’ was released! The highly anticipated sequel, ‘Single Black Female 2: Simone’s Revenge’ premiered on March 2. This genre-bending Black story surrounds Monica, a television host who has her life turned upside down by her new assistant, Simone, who turns out to be her long-lost, murderous half-sister.
As far as this particular saga goes, I like that we can see Monica, an enterprising, well-adjusted, self-possessed woman who has a romantic life (with really cute guys), as well as Simone, an unhinged, psychopathic, envious woman with an agenda. We deserve to see the full spectrum of Black femmes and our personalities available to us in entertainment.
Lead actress and executive producer (on the sequel) Amber Riley, who plays Simone, talks about how thrilling it was to portray an unapologetically malicious character, which sits in stark contrast to her own actual sweet demeanor and disposition. I believe that we women who were raised to be “nice, agreeable” girls could all benefit from unleashing pent-up aggression through the portrayal of a malevolent character - sounds fun!
The first installment was pretty entertaining. It performed exceedingly well, being the network's number one original non-holiday film of 2022. I absolutely adore Janet Hubert and her portrayal of Monica’s mother, Denise, was unexpectedly comical. I enjoy K. Michelle as Bebe, Monica’s protective best friend, as well.
In all honesty, this year’s second iteration is horrible. The dialogue, story, scenes, and supporting characters all felt forced and inconsequential. The script is supposed to unearth the characters’ depths and move the story along; there were many times when neither happened. There were also some very confusing, hard-to-decipher scenes interspersed.
It was surprisingly, hilariously nonsensical that nearly everyone in the cast of the sequel is Black; the second movie is set in Seattle, a city that reportedly has a 6% Black population. Nonetheless, it’s an interesting way to waste 87 minutes…maybe. I don’t absolutely regret it but I don’t recommend the sequel. It looks like a third movie could be on the horizon.
I think that having the representation of the two main characters is a monumental step forward and hopefully we can see more quality productions with this type of casting in the future.
My rating: 2.5/10
Summer House: Martha's Vineyard (Season 2)
(Some season 1 spoilers.)
I did not like this show’s first season. After having trouble getting into it and finally throwing in the towel after episode 3 or 4, I finally realized that I just did not like the cast members. I could not see myself being friends with nor connecting with any of them, except Preston. The women all seem to be excessively phony (Jasmine), (allegedly) predatory (Shanice), colorist (Shanice), annoying/bratty (Bria), combative (Jordan), and just overall unpleasant to me. I also don’t see how much they have in common with each other but, whatever. The fact that they would associate with a person like Phil speaks volumes. I liked what I saw of Mariah but she left pretty quickly.
They’re all trying a little too hard to push the “Black excellence” narrative, which by the way is rooted in white supremacy. The notion that Black people must be “excellent” and “extraordinary” to have value and to deserve protection from racism and discrimination is born of white supremacist ideals, which state that Black people are only worthy if they can be “respectable,” i.e. behaving in line with white supremacist cultural norms, and productive for the benefit of others - namely for the benefit of white people in the days of slavery. Today the worth-attached-to-productivity speaks to if we can be productive to society as a whole, outside of ourselves.
Human beings are worthy regardless of our level of ability, status, physique, intellect, achievement, etc. Placing Black people’s value on how much we do for others or ostensibly “achieve” is incredibly racist, oppressive and toxic. Preston explained this in the first or second episode but it went over everyone’s head, and stupid Jasmine kept desperately trying to inject it into all the wrong moments, i.e. when her friends were having a disagreement that started in the house and spilled over to the club. In response to the tension, Jasmine smiles and coos, “As long as it’s about Black excellence…” Girl, what?!? Just nonsense.
There’s certainly a level of classicism and elitism associated with the cast and their desire to “flex” about their fashion, jobs, and financial ability to vacation in Martha’s Vineyard.
The Nick character is very peculiar to me. He seems like that guy who has fake confidence and tries to position himself as a debonair, sophisticated playboy; he pretends that he has swag just because he is Black. He clearly does not have genuine finesse nor intellect. He thought erudite was a noun. He is also obviously “thirsty,” with his desperation dripping through his unsuccessful attempts to engage Jordan and “light skin” (that’s the hashtag the latter uses for herself on Instagram posts about BHM, ick!) through Instagram DMs. Sigh. I recall that I stopped watching after he reluctantly admitted to his housemates that he had a girlfriend back home (in Harlem, I think)? I noticed a clip on YouTube that showed his girlfriend and I was shocked at how she looked; I was not expecting him to have what seemed to be a very accomplished (she traveled in from a visit to Africa), attractive Black girlfriend to be honest, given his disingenuity and artificial swag. Oh well.
Alex is the only attractive guy to me and he presented himself as a “reformed” heaux if you will, who is now focused on spirituality and affirmations. I did not finish the first season, but from the clips I saw afterwards, he apparently was not reformed? So posing like a spiritual, celibate monk is definitely a turnoff. And like I said, it just reeks of disingenuity across the cast.
All of that said, I am slightly still curious about this show. Perhaps it provokes the nostalgia of partying at my HBCU alma mater. Again, I got bored and stopped watching the first season after 3 or 4 episodes but when I saw that it was returning I figured I’d plan to tune in. Second seasons are usually more promising and entertaining than firsts.
I suspect that I am at a loss for fresh, new content that centers Black people. Lawd knows I cannot wait for RHOA to return (and hopefully regain its initial pizzazz). UPDATE: I’m glad Kenya is gone, I don’t like her, but it’s looking like this upcoming season as a whole is doomed.
I do think that reality television is generally on the decline as far as believable, engaging entertainment value goes but the second season of SHMV premieres on March 24.
UPDATE: I tried to watch, and unlike the first season, Shanice was most prominently featured in the first episode, so I turned it off within about two minutes. Like I said, Shanice gives me the heebie jeebies. She’s like a creepy, fetishizing, thirsty/predatory white woman in a biracial woman’s body. The newcomer, Noelle Hughley, actually seems like a cool, down to earth person; she reminds me of Howard, like a traditional African-American woman who isn’t overbearing in her idea of how Black people are “supposed to be.” But! I will not watch because the rest of the cast sucks. OMG that Summer character is so miserable and unlikeable! LMAO.
My rating: 0.1/10 (first season was 3.1/10)