What constitutes a good show? Is it the acting? Maybe it's the script. Heck, it might even be the network it's on. Tyler Perry's If Loving You Is Wrong made a splash on the OWN network in late 2014. It was different. It was a soap opera about an affair. But it was also a show about family and relationships. The show has a ballsy start of two people have (really messy) sex in a shed. We learn they they're not only having a secret affair but the two of them are married. And neighbors. And good friends with their lover's spouses. It's a very messy and tangled web but the first episode of this series had more drama than most shows could even hope for in an entire season on the air.
Tyler Perry is brilliant at what he does. Many people may not exactly get what he does or why he does it, but he's brilliant at it. He's not only written, produced and directed 6 shows and counting (in less than 10 years) but he has a very successful movie franchise because of one word. Mess. Tyler Perry's entire career thrives on mess. It thrives on complication, it thrives on the ideas of family drama, affairs, secret alliances, random pregnancies, getting caught having sex in weird place, and that's where it soars. That is SPECIFICALLY where If Loving You Is Wrong soars.
There's a moment during Season 1A of ILYIW where Kelly meets Travis outside of her house with the woman that he left her for and tells her it was finally time the two of them met. The blank stare on Travis' face as Kelly rips him a new one (one of many expert reads given by Kelly), the way he keeps repeating the phrase "I love you" to her after he left her and "his" son for another woman exudes everything this show is beginning to distinguish itself as. It's a show that lives in the moment. Don't get me wrong, in a typical episode there's almost 30 minutes worth of people just staring at each other while they chew on the same piece of tired dialogue for about 10 minutes before cutting to another scene where two other characters are doing the same thing but under different circumstances. But when the show hits it's stride, you can't turn away from the television. Either because you're laughing so hard at the ridiculous banter or because there is a fight that ends a gun going off.
If I had to describe ILYIW as a plot driven or a plot driven show, I'd say a little bit of both. The character development is very evident in some characters (Brad, Marcie, Kelly, sometimes Randall) whereas other characters (Joey, Alex, Natalie and Eddie) are too busy being nothings on the show that it's hard to say what's black and what's white in this show. I also can't really call it a plot driven show because of how slow the story moves at some points it just looks like the characters are staring at each other for no particular reason and the show is dragged out through the hour like a turtle. I was struggling on whether or not to make a few separate posts so I can get into detail about each of the plot points of the show and dig deep into how I really feel about each of the characters and each of their plots and their relevance to the overall story but I thought that would be a little unfair. Mostly because there are maybe two or three plots I actually care about and interest me and the others would just end in me calling Esperanza an idiot, or Lucian about as relevant as a dish rag. I guess we'll start off with my review of the actual parts of the show now...
Lushion/Natalie/Joey/
Where should I start here? I don't really have all that much to say about their story line(s). I find their characters to be a bit dull. Joey sounds like he's on pain medication and looks like he's constipated most of his time on screen. He's very stiff and unless he's yelling or something, he doesn't seem to be much of a compelling actor. Maybe it's the material, maybe he needs some more time to get comfortable? (But it's been a year, so) Natalie is a loyal mother. She's a loyal friend and she'll do whatever she can to take care of the people she cares about, no matter what the cost. She's a strong independent woman who don't need no man. That's where Lushion, her ex/baby daddy/love interest, comes in. He's a rookie cop getting his life together and doing whatever he can to provide for Natalie and his/her family. He's a father figure to Joey, the only one he's ever known. This makes for a few nice touching moments (such as Lushion teaching Joey how to tie a tie or them hugging it out after Lushion stands there calm while Joey is getting all of his feelings out about how much he hates him and he will never be his father). But that's about it. Their big story arc this season was Joey desperately looking for a job (I have to admit, it was amusing seeing Joey's fool ass trying to work it during an interview only to have Natalie foil him). I can sit here talking about how Natalie's story in the first season was emotionally compelling about a powerful black woman who's doing it for her family and being completely successful but...nah. Natalie is no doubt a great person, but she's also a bit of a miss. She's done giving Joey chances. Us as an audience haven't seen Joey routinely fuck up as much as Natalie probably has, but it just makes her look a little cold. We see Joey trying to (eh, sort of) better himself but Natalie gives him a swift bye Felica. When Jackie, her coworker who is an absolute riot, convinces her to give him a job all is honky dory in the world. Joey is doing a great job and Natalie is finally started to see the good in her son again. Joey's idiot monotone ass has these friends from before he went to jail who are clearly the wrong crowd and when Joey tells them that he is out of the criminal business, he makes them mad. Natalie trusts Joey to lock up the burger joint (yes, they work at a burger joint) and accidentally messes up somehow and the place is robbed. Of course Natalie gives a monologue about what an idiot he is, Joey gets the money to replace and I think he comes back to work? Yeah, he comes back to work. Part of this is because the owner's daughter has a crush on him. So cute, I guess? I'm not sure what to say here because the story arc didn't really draw me in.
Quick thoughts: I thought it was funny when Natalie told Lushion "I'm not a stereotype..." When she lives in the ghetto, works at a burger joint, his a son with a criminal record and a daughter named 'Laquanda'. No, I am not paraphrasing or para-naming. Her daughter's name is Laquanda. What, Tyler Perry? Tyler Perry. I repeat. What?
Esperanza/Eddie/Julius
There is absolutely nothing in this storyline that has me emotionally invested but when I tell you Eddie's crazy ass is one of the best things about this show? Mannnnnn, Edward will shoot one of his friends, physically back stab his brother-in-law, fuck his sister-in-law, threaten to assassinate the president, do it, then go out at the burger joint with his next mistress and order a diet coke all in the span of three hours. He's a dirty cop, a liar, a cheater and a dog. And I can't get enough of him. He has the best one liners, the actor does this weird accent that's hilarious to listen to and he's all around just a completely fun part of the show. Eddie has a child with a woman named Esperanza. We're not going to talk about her. We just won't. A bag of moldy citrus fruit would make better decisions than poor Esperanza. She's such an idiot that I stop feeling bad for her by midseason. She's nice and all but she's unforgivably stupid. Eddie is very controlling of Esperanza, despite them not being together and despite him being married to another woman in a nice house with his own life. It's scary to see how obsessed he is with her. He has his own wife but when Esperanza even looks at another man he adjusts his gun and gets ready to shoot. He quite literally shoots her boyfriend, Julius, in the leg. Little does Edward know, Julius (or his dad) is part of the Colombian (I think?) mob and when Eddie comes home daddy Julius quite literally makes him an offer he can't refuse and that's the last we see of Julius...until my man Julius comes from clean the fuck out of nowhere and has one of his dudes try and kill Eddie. This leads to a drive by shooting at the burger joint (yes, Natalie's burger joint) where Eddie ends up getting shot (yay!). Don't get too excited, he's still alive. And, I mean, I'm glad he doesn't die. He may be absolutely sick and twisted but he's one of the best things about the show and steals every scene he's in. Mostly in part to the actor, Joel Rush, who does an amazing job at capturing what a maniac the character is. My one problem is emotional. I don't see anything redeeming in Eddie whatsoever. He's cold hearted, probably a killer, and just plain evil. He's fun, of course, but there is one scene in particular where he is in tears crying to Esperanza and I would have felt sorry for him if he weren't so un-redeemingly evil.
When I start doing regular reviews of the show I'll make sure to have an "Eddie is the best" segment and point out why he's the best worst character on the show with quotes, etc. Because why would I not? He's the best.
Kelly/Travis
Kelly and Travis are probably the funniest part of the show. Not because they make jokes, not because they are funny people, but because they are the most ridiculous irrelevant part of the show that I can't get enough off. The show starts out with Kelly being Kelly, awesome and fun, in a relationship with a man who is seemingly perfect. He's taking over paternally for her son and is in a relationship with her and is in Haiti on a relief mission. She's put a down payment on a house and they're going to move in together and have happy perfect lives together. What's not to love? Oh, yeah. Travis is cheating on her and breaks up with her. What's the twist in the knife, you say? This whole time Kelly thought he was going to propose to her. He comes back, sits her down, looks Kelly DEAD in the face and breaks up with her, after she accepts the marriage proposal he was never going to give to her. Messed up, but y'all, the look on Kelly's face was priceless when she kicked him out. Travis seems to have no sense, or recollection, of what he's done because he comes to her maybe a day or two later with his girlfriend talking about "you two finally have a chance to meet. we're gonna be great together. i'm a monotoned dumb ass fuck boy". Okay, clearly I'm paraphrasing but the look of confusion on Travis' face as Kelly rips him a new one is priceless. So is his girlfriend's face. Girl, do you expect Kelly to welcome you into the family like she was Cicely Tyson? Whether you want to admit it or not, you and Travis are home. wreckers. So I have no idea why Travis thought it would be a good idea to bring his "secret fiancé/mistress" to meet his ex-girlfriend, but it sure made for good TV. The more times he says "I love you" after breaking up with her, the more I just have to question what's going on in his head.
Eventually he breaks it off with the girl then comes back around and every one of their scenes in 1B are fun to watch because they consist of a tight Scooby-Doo type formula. Kelly is trying to eat her food or watch Scandal, Travis comes out of nowhere and says he loves her and how she should give him another chance because he broke up with someone for her, she reads him like TIME magazine and rinse, and repeat.
My personal favorite Kelly reading Travis quote: "Y'all can get in that car, put the seatbelt around your neck and strangle yourselves. Okay?"
Travis: "Kelly...you don't have to insult me :(."
Alex/Randall/Marcie/Brad
We're going to waste absolutely no time. Alex and Randall are having an affair, while they are married to Marcie and Brad. Marcie and Brad have no personality in Season 1A. Sorry to say. They're both nice characters, they're both loving spouses, but they're so boring. Weirdly enough, Randall and Alex were quite boring to. Hilariously, the only time Alex had any type of on-screen chemistry with absolutely anybody was in that damn shade when she was getting her brains fucked to mars by Randall. The first half of the season has Alex and Randall constantly saying they're going to stop sleeping together, moments before they fall back into bed (...or shed?) together. Alex then always proceeds to call him the next day and rant about how much she hates him and wishes she never met him. Alex finds out she's pregnant and has two possible dads for suspect: Randall and Brad. Brad had a vasectemy but vestectemys fail all the time so Brad's hunky dory and excited to be a dad for the third time. Alex rules Randall out because "the dates don't match up."
Don't worry, I didn't forget about Marcie. She gets suspicious of Randall an
She talks to her girls and gets her feelings out while Alex is looking like:
 |
| First of many glasses of wine. |
Marcie confronts Randall and this is the first moment we see into the mind of Randall. He doesn't yell back, he doesn't deny anything. He simply and calmy says "I can't believe you would go through my things." Marcie, rightfully so, slaps him with a "BITCH WHUUU?" and as she gets more fed up, he locks himself in the bathroom while she bangs on the door. Later, Kelly figures out Alex is Peppa and Marcie goes to her house. Marcie knows something is up and tries to get Kelly to fess up and tell her who Peppa is. Kelly gives her two words that change her life. "Look close." As Marcie leaves the house, after repeatidly being told to look closely, she notices a bumper sticker on Alex' car that says "Peppa" on it. When I tell you my girl Marcie ran back to her house like she was on some Usaine Bolt shit. She busted in her house so aggressively, Jazmine Sullivan wrote a song about it. She ran up the stairs, beat three shits out of Randall and ran back downstairs before Randall restrained her and pulled that ass back into the house, thus ending season 1A.
While all of this was fun to watch, the best part was an older black woman standing outside of the house being nosey with all of the noise happening. Of course, anyone would stand out suspicious when there's yelling and vases breaking and very sounds of a Looney Tunes cartoon inside a house. The fact that it was an old black woman capped off an exhilarating first half of the season.
SEASON 1A GRADE (EPISODES 1-10): C+
SEASON 1A GRADE (EPISODES 1-10): C+
I know this is a review for all of season 1, but there's so much in this storyline that's I'll post an update to it with the Alex/Brad/Marcie/Randall storyline of Season 1B soon, so look out for that!
No comments:
Post a Comment