Common Sense Media Review
By Marty Brown
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
British crime drama revival feels real but lacks drama.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 17+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Top Boy: Summerhouse
What's the Story?
TOP BOY SUMMERHOUSE picks up years after the original Top Boy series left off. Dushane (Ashley Walters) and Sully (Kane Robinson, also known as the British rapper Kano) find themselves estranged from the drug trade. Sully is in prison, while Dushane works in an auto body shop in Jamaica. Slowly, the two find themselves pulled back into criminal life while new faces around town, like ruthless Jamie (Micheal Ward), who is a murderous gangster as well as a doting parental figure to his two younger brothers are their parents were killed. When Sully and Dushare reemerge on the scene, all the players battle of the new power dynamics.
Is It Any Good?
Though it's mostly by-the-numbers plotwise, this series has a couple of fun things going for it. Top Boy: Summerhouse's history makes the characters feel lived in and relaxed, like the audience has just happened to turn the corner into the housing works where the primary action takes place. There's no exposition dump of the sort that weighs down a lot of new ensemble-driven dramas. And the setting feels unique. Not the depiction of the drug trade itself, which feels like a knockoff of The Wire after years of diminishing returns, but East London, a complex and underseen area that here feels ripe with discovery and dramatic possibility.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about East London. How does Top Boy's setting compare with similar shows set in the U.S.? What can you learn about British culture from Top Boy? How does the show compare to what you know about London?
What are the positive and negative choices that Dushane and Sully make in their lives? Do they make any ethical or moral decisions? What are they? How do they arrive at those decisions?
How does Top Boy portray drug dealing? What do you think the show's opinion of drug dealers is? How does this come out in the action?
TV Details
- Premiere date : September 18, 2019
- Cast : Ashley Walters , Kane Robinson , Michael Ward
- Network : Netflix
- Genre : Drama
- TV rating :
- Last updated : February 1, 2025
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