It’s a gross exaggeration to say that television is a lost art, but we can maybe agree that it has changed. But sadly, not all of it is for the better. The binge model pigeonholes every show into a novel; scriptwriters tragically factor in second-screen doomscrolling; and the half-hour situational comedy has been driven to near extinction.
Which is why I thank the television gods for The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins and then thank them again that it’s back so soon. Still sharp, still absurd, and still just plain funny, The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins proves sophomores aren’t always in a slump, with a new season that picks up from season 1’s high point. Season 2 of Reggie Dinkins, which premiered November 2 on NBC, catches up with Daniel Radcliffe’s anguished auteur, Arthur Tobin, as he documents the show’s hero, Reggie Dinkins (Tracy Morgan).
Dinkins is a disgraced football superstar, and he’s hellbent on rehabilitating his public profile. Arthur still lives in the Dinkins’ crowded New Jersey mansion that also houses Reggie’s level-headed ex-wife and manager Monica (Erika Alexander), their son Carmelo (Jalyn Hall), Reggie’s younger fiancé Brina (Precious Way), and Bobby Moynihan as Rusty, Reggie’s freeloading BFF who is too integral to the family’s cohesion to kick to the curb. This season, Arthur grows ever closer to the Dinkins clan, despite his own hyper-awareness of his documentary ethics violations. (Episode 2 of this season at last interrogates how compromised the in-progress project has been since the start.) Most of the ensemble, Radcliffe and Morgan included, exist in a sort of stasis—this is a network sitcom, after all—but it’s Precious Way who shines as the much-improved standout of the bunch.
Formerly “just” the younger woman in Reggie’s life last season, Brina has grown into the soul of the show. Along with Way’s buoyant charisma, there’s a newfound depth to Brina that wasn’t present in her before. I’ll admit: I thought she was grating at first blush, and I was ready to write her off as a shallow antagonist who didn’t seem involved with Reggie or the family in earnest.
But in season 2, she’s evolved into a phenomenal supporting player who instantly brightens the room and contrasts beautifully with the others, most of all Radcliffe’s flummoxed British artiste. (A throwaway gag involving her “Voice Bucket Challenge” had me cracking up at my desk.) It’s a mere single component upgrade we’re talking about here, but it elevates Reggie Dinkins to a much higher degree this time around. Jalyn Hall, too, grows in his once-thankless role as Reggie and Monica’s teenage son Carmelo. Through a new overarching storyline involving a forbidden romance, which becomes a lynchpin for most of season 2’s first half, Carmelo crystallizes in his specific variant of “Blerd” that is more refreshing than derivative.
He’s not just “The Geek,” as in most sitcoms. He’s fluid enough to perform the function without killing the buzz. The first four episodes of the season, provided to the press, keep up season 1’s winning formula—twenty-two-minute sitcom hijinks that unfold against an airy atmosphere with well-timed punchlines.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
