Blindspotting
By Angelica Guarino,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Sex work, drugs in smart but disjointed family dramedy.
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Blindspotting
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What's the Story?
BLINDSPOTTING follows the events of the 2018 film of the same name. When Miles, a small-time drug dealer, is arrested for possession, his girlfriend Ashley loses the ability to pay the rent on their Oakland house. She is forced to take their son, Sean, and move in with Miles' mother, Rainey (Helen Hunt), and sister, Trish (Jaylen Barron). Ashley and Rainey have very different parenting styles, plus Ashley and Trish don't get along, which makes for a difficult home life. Along with maintaining her job as an upscale hotel concierge, Ashley must navigate a new family dynamic and living situation as well as the pain of being without her partner for the foreseeable future. The upside is that Ashley and Sean are given the chance to reconnect not only with Miles' family but also with their old Oakland neighborhood, which they've left since steadily earning enough money to live in a richer, more gentrified neighborhood across town.
Is It Any Good?
While this show has brilliant moments and sequences, it struggles with blending the risky creative choices that made the original movie a standout with a more traditional television format. Blindspotting ends up with a disjointed narrative that jarringly jumps from scene to scene. While one moment can be emotionally moving and poetic, the next will be too self-aware, using sitcom-style dialogue perhaps to remind the audience that this is not like any show they've seen before. The premise for blending these styles sounds promising, but Blindspotting often doesn't feel like two styles blended together; instead it's like three or four totally different shows forcibly asserting that they are one.
Blindspotting does, however, have compelling individual storylines and effective relationship building. The performances of Jasmine Cephas Jones and Helen Hunt are fantastic; every scene between Ashley and Rainey is at once hilarious, emotionally genuine, and relatable. Another highlight is the relationship between Ashley's childhood friend Janelle and Earl, a tenant living with Janelle and her mother. The two are scene-stealers by themselves, especially when acting as babysitters to Ashley's son Sean, but the episode where we get a major storyline about Janelle and Earl's growing friendship spotlights how well anthology-like ensemble storytelling can work. Unfortunately, it isn't too long before an out-of-place dance sequence shifts the attention to the backstory of the two main characters in the film version of Blindspotting -- Miles and Collin -- even though Collin doesn't appear in the television version at all. Overall, while the representation of real, important stories creates a unique narrative world, it's possible that viewers who are attached to the cohesiveness and continuity that television traditionally provides may not stick around long enough to understand it.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the business that Miles' sister, Trish, aims to start. She struggles with finding an investor or a bank to approve a business loan because she is a sex worker. What is sex work, and why is it stigmatized?
What struggles do people face when reintegrating into society after a prison sentence? In the show, Earl has just been released from a year of prison because of a marijuana charge. He faces many obstacles including house arrest, probation terms, and finding a job. Why do you think Earl is able to be successful? What roles do Nancy and Janelle play in helping Earl move on with his life?
TV Details
- Premiere date: June 13, 2021
- Cast: Jasmine Cephas Jones , Helen Hunt , Rafael Casal
- Network: Starz
- Genre: Comedy
- TV rating: TV-MA
- Last updated: June 20, 2023
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