{"id":235219,"date":"2023-09-08T12:08:24","date_gmt":"2023-09-08T12:08:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lovemainstream.com\/?p=235219"},"modified":"2023-09-08T12:08:24","modified_gmt":"2023-09-08T12:08:24","slug":"critics-say-theyre-blown-away-by-top-boys-final-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lovemainstream.com\/lifestyle\/critics-say-theyre-blown-away-by-top-boys-final-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Critics say they're blown away by Top Boy's final season"},"content":{"rendered":"
Critics have been blown away by <\/span>Netflix<\/span>‘s Top Boy, with some calling it ‘TV at it’s best’ despite the ‘chaotic and ultra-violent’ episodes which wrap up the show.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Top Boy is a <\/span>crime<\/span> drama which has wowed audiences around the world as it\u00a0 takes an unflinching look at the raw, dangerous world of drug dealing and the stories of those who live in the ends.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It’s a look at the paradoxical aspiration and realities of those who are marginalised by society yet form a tight-knit community as they try to better their lives on the estate.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The programme is set on the fictional Summerhouse estate in Hackney,\u00a0<\/span>London<\/span> and focuses on two drug dealers in particular, Dushane and\u00a0Sully.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Dushane is played by British actor Ashley Walters and Sully is played by actor and rapper\u00a0Kane Robinson, also known as Kano.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The series first aired in 2011 and was first produced by <\/span>Channel 4<\/span>, but the broadcaster dropped the show after the second series.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Top Boy is a crime drama that takes an unflinching look at the raw, dangerous world of drug dealing and the lives of those who live in the ends<\/span><\/p>\n However, following interest from Canadian rapper Drake, Netflix then decided to take on Top Boy, going on to produce series three, four and five with the original cast, with the singer as an executive producer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Despite the bumpy start to the production of Top Boy, it seems it has come a long way since then, with critics thoroughly impressed with how it has ended.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Here is a taste of what critics have to say…\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Rating: <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Telegraph’s Jasper Rees gives the series five stars and says that whilst the first episode starts with the thought of hope, ‘it\u2019s a cast-iron rule with Top Boy that whenever anyone has a smile on their face, it won\u2019t be there for long.’\u00a0<\/p>\n He wrote\u00a0that director,\u00a0Myriam Raja’s biggest challenge ‘is a teeming set piece in which Summerhouse residents protest to thwart a Home Office deportation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n ‘Perhaps a storyline inspired by the Windrush Scandal feels a bit behind the curve.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n ‘Not so a script that entraps a fresh generation of children and even babies. While this addictive saga will exit with a satisfying bang, that\u2019s the real story that never ends.’<\/span><\/p>\n Rating: <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Leila Latif for The Guardian reviewed the last series and also gave it five stars, describing the last episodes as ‘chaotic and ultra-violent.’<\/p>\n She wrote\u00a0that despite the fact that Top Boy is compared to HBO\u2019s modern classic The Wire, ‘it doesn\u2019t crumble under the weight of its US counterpart.’<\/p>\n She continued by saying: ‘In the final episode, Top Boy serves its audience all the chaos, violence and scope its long-gestating tensions have promised.\u00a0<\/p>\n ‘The camera rarely pauses and the dialogue is sparse as the estate descends into chaos. Monologues and farewells are expertly delivered, and violence is depicted with the full weight of human loss.’<\/p>\n Rating: <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The review, penned by Nick Clark, started by writing ‘thank goodness for Drake’ as he helped\u00a0bring attention to the show, which ultimately led to its revival by streaming giant Netflix.\u00a0<\/p>\n He wrote: ‘What has always elevated Top Boy is that it was not just about the drugs and the guns, the gang culture and the money, but it\u2019s about the families, friends and communities too.\u00a0<\/p>\n ‘It\u2019s a show that touches on real social issues from police and politicians\u2019 treatment of those in the estates to gentrification, Brexit to immigration.’<\/p>\n Clark also says that the series goes at ‘breakneck pace’ and that viewers may be left wondering how they will wrap everything up in such a short space of time.<\/p>\n But he reassured them that they do manage it and ‘it’s done brilliantly.’\u00a0<\/p>\n Rating: <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Dan Einav starts his review by recapping on last season’s savage finale – when Sully murdered rival Jamie (Micheal Ward) in front of his siblings.\u00a0<\/p>\n Commenting on this season, he wrote: ‘As ever, Top Boy transcends gang matters to consider its wider impact and contexts.\u00a0<\/p>\n ‘A quasi-novelistic saga of the streets, it continues to immerse us in a fragile community and to probe failing social systems.\u00a0<\/p>\n ‘Thoughtful writing and instinctual performances meanwhile give real human texture to supporting characters \u2014 not least Jasmine Jobson\u2019s drug dealer Jaq, who sees how the life that sustains her destroys those she loves most.’<\/p>\n Rating: <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Nick Hilton’s review for The Independent states that the six-part final series ‘feels altogether more nightmarish,’ as the hopes and dreams of young men are consumed by ‘needless violence.’\u00a0<\/p>\n He also\u00a0wrote: ‘There an inescapability to Northern Irish writer Ronan Bennett\u2019s vision of London\u2019s criminal underworld.<\/p>\n ‘Dushane is eating in fancy restaurants and spending millions on a nail shop chain, but a few scenes later he\u2019s smashing someone\u2019s head in.\u00a0<\/p>\n ‘There is something inexorable about the way that this final season of Top Boy ends in civil unrest, gunfights and dead men. \u201cWe are not monsters,\u201d Sully observes, tearfully. \u201cWe\u2019re food.\u201d.’<\/p>\n Rating: <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Morgan Jeffery rated the final series four stars and commented on how it has fewer\u00a0secondary plots compared to previous seasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n Jeffery says that series five focuses in on four characters,\u00a0Dushane, Sully, Jaq (Jasmine Jobson) and Stefan (Araloyin Oshunremi).\u00a0<\/p>\n Jeffery writes: ‘[They]\u00a0mostly take centre stage, a more focused approach that allows the show to wring every last drop of rage, upset and anguish out of this talented quartet of performers.’<\/p>\n While some fans may be disappointed their favourite television series has come to the end, The Radio Times reviewer wrote: ‘This was certainly the right time to wrap things up \u2013 there’s only so many times we can see Dushane and Sully at loggerheads before circumstances once again force them back into an uneasy partnership, the characters themselves even remarking on the familiarity of that premise here \u2013 but regardless, Top Boy and its captivating characters will be sorely missed.’<\/p>\n Rating: <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n TV Editor Emily Baker says that Top Boy ‘isn\u2019t afraid to take its fans to the darkest parts of the gang lifestyle.\u00a0<\/p>\n Commenting on Stef’s character development, she\u00a0wrote: ‘Stef\u2019s transformation from an unassuming geek to a gangster is difficult to watch but the all-too-familiar story of a young boy turning to a life of violence is handled without judgement and with pathos by the 19-year-old actor.\u00a0<\/p>\n ‘That Stef is venturing into his first romantic relationship makes his trajectory all the more tragic.’<\/p>\n She writes about the attention to detail and noted that even ‘even the smallest subplots are told with passion and, at times, righteous anger.’<\/p>\nTHE TELEGRAPH<\/h2>\n
THE GUARDIAN<\/h2>\n
THE EVENING STANDARD<\/h2>\n
THE FINANCIAL TIMES<\/h2>\n
THE INDEPENDENT\u00a0<\/h2>\n
THE RADIO TIMES<\/h2>\n
THE i<\/h2>\n