Ballers (Season 1)

By: Robert Murphy

It's funny to think how Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was formerly a pro wrestler but has now taken over the world of action movies by appearing in some of the years biggest titles. Now he aims to further his global dominance by taking on a new television series about a former football player turned agent after finally retiring from the game. Not a bad idea since he knows the game and can truly relate to the players he wants to represent. But, Spencer (Dwayne) is having some trouble letting go with the game as certain demons from his past are affecting him now that he is no longer playing and no longer living the ball player lifestyle.

While I am not a huge fan of football I am well aware of the issues that many of these players can potentially face. You have 300 pound men in padding charging towards you every game slamming into one another and it can lead to serious injury and backlash. Not to mention the sort of life these players live out on the road every single day, they're away from their families but also there are the temptations, drugs and alcohol that comes along with it too. Ballers depicts this life style in all these ways and it does lead to some incredible episodes as well as the more scandalous scenes. Not all football players or pro athletes are like this though and one of the main characters, Charles (Omar Benson Miller), shows that you can be a faithful football player but even he suffers from withdrawal issues like Spencer. 

Ballers toyed around with many different ideas with it's first season but the best thing they got right was the partying. It's not hard to throw together a good party scene, have some beautiful woman, drugs, alcohol and crazy music and you've got yourself a good time. These further accentuated the lifestyle the show was trying to glamorize which hey, it's HBO, what did you expect. Other situations didn't pain out so well however that I thought would have potentially been big bomb shells for the next season or even the end of this one. Spencer's best friend and man who got him the job he is now, Joe (Robb Corddry), decides to make some big changes and strike out on his own. This was a great idea and proved to make for some excellent tension between Spencer's friendship to him, would he choose to go with his friend or stay where the moneys at? Without giving too much away it doesn't nearly amount to all the build up you thought it would be just like other the other big moments for the season. 

Time and time again, Spencer and Joe catch miraculous breaks in whatever issues they're dealing with. Big problems arise here and there and they do their best to contain it but when things go from bad to worse its solved remarkably easy. An episode that takes place after a gigantic party that the two through for example, leads to some photos getting leaked of a potential client and the shows main focus, Vernon (Donovan Carter). The episodes proceeds to sweat you the entire time as things get worse and worse but by the end it is resolved in a five minute scene and I was left with a perplexed look on my face.

These moments however did prove to be shining moments for both Spencer and Joe. The two have a wonderful bond of brothers that they develop through working at the firm together and work quite well together all things considered. Spencer is more of the stern heavy hitter who can connect with the players on a personal level where Joe is the out of control party thrower who knows how to connect on a different sort of level. Watching the two run around putting out fires in their individual ways was very fun and quite emotional at times especially for Spencer. 

While I am a huge fan of great bromances in series and movies, most everything outside of Spencer and Joe fell far below anything too exceptional. Drama portions of Ballers were often quickly resolved and nobody ever seemed to not get what they wanted except for maybe Ricky (John David Washington) but he was a constant screw up through the whole series and firm believer in the football partying lifestyle so in a way that's a good thing. I do sincerely hope the future of the show has more promise especially in terms of the tension and issues for the series because by the end of our first season, Ballers doesn't have what it takes to make it to the goal line.

Good:

- Spencer and Joe's brotherly chemistry

- Depicts both the pros and cons of football very well

Bad:

- High stakes issues were quickly and easily resolved

- Every character seemed to come out on top with no major issues by the end

Scully Rating: 5.8 out of 10