The Last O.G is about Tray, an ex convict who after spending 15 years in jail is released for good behaviour. His time in detention may have changed him for the better and prepared him for life after, but nothing could have prepared him for the changes he is out to meet.
15 years, and the world has moved on, his neighbourhood Brooklyn has become gentrified, his girlfriend is now married, and he is a father to twins. In an attempt to re-connect with his family and friends, he comes upon the hard truth that not only does he not have the money to support his family, but he also lacks the wherewithal to take care of himself.
Thus relying on his well-worn skills , he sets about trying to make ends meet.
This is a comedy with a good cast. It's not a solid or great cast, but it is undeniably a good cast, and the characters duly delivered with acting. We may have a little bit of problem with some of the cast, but we can rate their performances above average.
Let's start off with the story, or lack thereof. This seem to be the trend these days, forget about the story and just put some comic stuff out there and let the viewers have a good laugh. It's a good strategy believe me, especially when it's intended to be a franchise runner, however, we feel some series creators may have started getting it wrong. The Last O.G definitely needed a plot theme element and at the very least a subtle conflict that could keep us engrossed and interested. From the very premier of thd series, we may have expected that, but as the show progressed, we were lost on that expectation. We were sold something totally different.
The series Premier offered us a possible conflict between Tray and Shay& her new family. But that was immediately resolved, and then viewers went through 5 solid episodes without direction or guidance. Hey it became so comfortable watching this that we knew even though he was an ex convict, he was going to get a job sooner or later, and he did get it, albeit comfortably. The very next conflict we could have had was with Wavy who could have in another TV show, been the snitch, and then maybe we'd have had a compelling reason to advocate for a renewal.
The episode where it was speculated he could have been the snitch were simply intense, and offered a compelling and rivetting way to conclude the season 1 of the show. But I guess the series creators just wanted to keep it comic, strictly.
You know, a plus for the series is that what it lacked in story and/ or plot theme conflicts it made up for in aces by being comic and funny. As one would have expected from a tv show lacking a solid and compelling plot theme element of a rivetting conflict told in absolutely superb fashion, this one even though lacking, never for a second seemed boring. There was always something to get you laughing.
Let me be the first to apologise in behalf of the series creators for the absolute lack of character development, but won't you be surprised if you saw one? For a connoisseur of good comedy, you should have been taken aback by my apology. Well most comedy shows don't allow the characters to develop on screen, at best you get transitional scenes or when it's basic, you will get occasional flashbacks. We are very much intrigued to say that both story telling instruments were employed and executed with to absolute perfection.
What we didn't get in character development, we got in a short back story and a transition back to the present, and back again. The back and forth was not frequent as to distort the flow of the show, hence the perfection of execution.
The instruments of story telling deployed for this show were basic, but the use of those instruments were astonishing and produced astounding results.
I can promise you it is not as hilarious as some other shows u may know, but it certainly ranks high up there with the best of them in terms of comic content and laughter inducement. Hey, I watched some comedy without even breaking a smile. This one is different.
Let's talk about why we love this show, and would recommend this to our readers.
Let me start with Tiffany Haddish and Tracy Morgan. Their portrayal of character was solid and amazing. Their conversational mastery was evidently well scouted and further polished. Tiffany Haddish could switch from your conventional American English language to our now remarkable African-American English. The first taste of this language transition left my mouth agape. Yes she is that good. Her BET award for best actor may just be the starting point if she goes on this way. A solid 8/10 for her efforts.
Tracy Morgan on the other hand had his African Gangster nigga game on a mutha F level. His Gangster game is on a nu nu level, hearing him in character could only remind me of Legends of Chamberlain Heights.
We loved the other characters, but surely Shazad could have been played by someone who had character emotional mastery, no? Dante Hoagland, (Shazad) could have done more, or maybe cast another person. He seemed at most times uninterested in the role, he couldn't even make us smile, more like he was annoying though.
We'll just conclude and say that it's a good watch when you compare the budget/ viewer review ratio. It a good show and we are impressed with what they have done, we are however not happy with what they could have achieved with this but refused to achieve.
Tracy Morgan
Tiffany Haddish
Cedric the Entertainer
Taylor Christian Mosby
Dante Hoagland
Allen Maldonado
P.S Allen Maldonado was crayy. The guy transitioned twice mid series, between characters and it was brilliant. He could be mature and still be immature at the very next instant. He can act, probably let him get more roles to test his acumen.
Executive Produced by Tracy Morgan, Jordan Peele and John Carcieri, we are not hard pressed to say they have done a good job. This is one that can be milked, if they play their cards right.
We think our readers can pick this one up and watch without being disappointed.
FCA'S AppR : 7.5/10
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