"The Get Down" Part 2 Review

Much to my delight this past Friday April 7th, Netflix released Part 2 of "The Get Down".  I was anxious to see the further adventures of The Get Down Brothers (Books, Shaolin Fantastic, Ra-Ra, Boo-Boo, and Dizze) and Mylene Cruz and the Soul Madonnas.

Some criticism of Part 1 was that its scope was so ambitious that at times it seemed the story meanders a bit, particularly in its presentation of the early days of hip-hop.  I stress that this is a drama, and not a documentary.  "The Get Down"  never aimed to be a historical, fact by fact telling of important milestones in the development of hip-hop.  This is a fictional ,coming of age story about a group of kids who grew up in the Bronx during the tumultuous 1970's, and it would be impossible to tell this story without including the early days of b-boys and b-girls (as well as the decline of disco.)

This is not to excuse some of the historical anachronisms that exist (such as some members of the crew who were rapping in double time, which was not a prevalent style of rhyming at this point in time for example) but its fun to see how these characters come into contact with this culture either through the rapping, playing music or through other means (some which were not so noble) These moments are what makes "The Get Down" so special, because if this culture means anything to you, you probably remember that moment when you discovered, it or when you fell in love with it; and for a lot of us the discovery and love were one in the same!

Compared to Part 1, Part 2 is a bit more streamlined.  The characters are established, the origin bits are out of the way, and they can pretty much get down to business in each episode.  For those who disliked Part 1, or found it a chore to make it through all the episodes, I would definitely say give Part 2 a fair chance.  Each of the episodes treat the expression of hip-hop as something that already exists, albeit in its earliest form, and does not have to stop and explain various elements at every opportunity.  Even when it does, such as when Books is explaining how a DJ finds the 'get down' part of the record and brings it back and forth between two turntables to a co-worker, it moves at a brisk pace and does not take up half of the episode.

If you enjoyed Part 1, these five episodes that make up Part 2 really bring the whole series together.  Being familiar with the characters, you will empathize with their various journeys and struggles even if some seem predictable, the cast is so likable you may find that you talk to yourself when certain characters meet obstacles, or express their frustrations about how life is treating them at a particular time.  Strip everything away, and a few of us, i'm sure have been in one of these characters shoes at one point or another.

A pleasant surprise in the storytelling mechanism for Part 2 is at various points throughout the episodes the story is told via a comic book strip where the characters and setting are animated and the actors provide voice-overs for their respective avatars.  I wonder how this series would have been received had it been completely animated.  We may never know, but for the parts where this did appear, I appreciated it tremendously.

Finally, as Part 1 had appearances by actors playing Grandmaster Flash, and Kool Herc,

*** spoiler alert***

Part 2 introduces the final member of the hip-hop trinity in Afrika Bambaattaa & the Zulu Nation.  No the show does not delve into the controversies surrounding him, he and his crew play a key role in the climax that is  similar to the opening few minutes of "The Warriors" .  It will be interesting to see how purists respond to this part of the story.

My review of Part 1 of the Get Down can be found here

Peace, Love & Unity

update: This new track from Nas that is featured at the start of Episode 3 "Angel Dust" just popped up on youtube today.  So dope!