New Series From Donald Glover ‘Swarm’ starring Dominique Fishback and Damson Idris

[NeoSeeker]

I haven't seen Swarm yet but I'd point out it isn't just black writers who writing bad shyt today. It's most young writers in television regardless of color. And I think a major reason is what they consume: social media. The people who wrote The Wire, The Sopranos, and virtually every great show of the past were WRITERS. And writers READ. Books, articles, poems, whatever. Writers are voracious readers, and that influences how they create dialogue, present drama, etc. A large portion of television writing today boils down to young writers regurgitating Twitter because they don't read. Dialogue is often brief and exaggerated, like a viral tweet. Comedy is often on-the-nose and flagrant, like a Vine/Tiktok. Nothing is subtle, identity trumps characterization, and characters are good because they believe good/acceptable things.

Just from the outside looking in, I'm baffled at the name of this show given that it's somewhat inspired by toxic fandom and Beyonce. Bey-hive....bee hive....swarm. Nobody thought that was too on the nose because everything the writers consume is too on the nose thanks to social media. I also read the show deliberately wanted the main character to be evil or unlikable, with limited backstory for the actress to go off. IE she's a bad person so why should you sympathize with her! She's bad! No subtlety, no nuance. Think about the era of television we fukked with. The Sopranos, Mad Men, The Wire. Full of deplorable characters who felt like human beings you could - at times - sympathize with. Or identify with. VS the modern "good people are good people and bad people are bad people" approach to film/tv.

I took this as satire, which is often exaggerated and over the top (see Bodies Bodies Bodies). By the second episode I knew this wasn't going to be a traditional narrative, and adjusted my expectations accordingly.

 

[CodeBlaMeVi]

I would consider choking someone to death extremely violent.

And i’m not too sold on Dre being the one who killed Marissa. The timeline doesn’t add up and her snapping and killing Khalid only makes a modicum of sense if she “blames” him for Marissa’s death

She does blame him because she was going to move out and live with him. She tried to tempt her to stay with the Ni’jaa concert tix and Marissa snapped and said f them tix when they’re struggling.

How was Marissa left stranded by Khalid but Marissa was able to make it home and Marissa’s Jeep was parked outside.

 

[CodeBlaMeVi]

I would consider choking someone to death extremely violent.

And i’m not too sold on Dre being the one who killed Marissa. The timeline doesn’t add up and her snapping and killing Khalid only makes a modicum of sense if she “blames” him for Marissa’s death

Okay but not by blunt force trauma.

 

[Ziggiy]

She does blame him because she was going to move out and live with him. She tried to tempt her to stay with the Ni’jaa concert tix and Marissa snapped and said f them tix when they’re struggling.

How was Marissa left stranded by Khalid but Marissa was able to make it home and Marissa’s Jeep was parked outside.

Marissa NEVER dissed Nai’Jah though. Marissa told Dre it was time for them to grow up and move beyond being stans but she still never said anything bad about Nai’Jah herself.

The series takes pains to show that when Dre kills somebody, its violent and READILY apparent that a murder happened, especially in the first two episodes. Marissa’s death was labeled a suicide, what murder did Dre commit throughout the course of the series that AMYONE could credibly say could have been a suicide? Dre isn’t the meticulous, planning, mastermind serial killer type, she goes off of rage. So her first kill certainly isn’t going to one that anyone could pass off as suicide.


The reason her argument with her girlfriend mirrors the the argument with Marissa is to highlight how Dre hasn’t changed and has failed to evolve over the years regarding her obsession with Nai’jah. No matter which identity or persona she inhibits, she’s still the same psychopath

 

[CodeBlaMeVi]

Marissa NEVER dissed Nai’Jah though. Marissa told Dre it was time for them to grow up and move beyond being stans but she still never said anything bad about Nai’Jah herself.

The series takes pains to show that when Dre kills somebody, its violent and READILY apparent that a murder happened, especially in the first two episodes. Marissa’s death was labeled a suicide, what murder did Dre commit throughout the course of the series that AMYONE could credibly say could have been a suicide? Dre isn’t the meticulous, planning, mastermind serial killer type, she goes off of rage. So her first kill certainly isn’t going to one that anyone could pass off as suicide.


The reason her argument with her girlfriend mirrors the the argument with Marissa is to highlight how Dre hasn’t changed and has failed to evolve over the years regarding her obsession with Nai’jah. No matter which identity or persona she inhibits, she’s still the same psychopath

I said she killed her because Marissa said she was going to leave her and move in with Khalid. She used the tix in desperation to try to get her to stay. Marissa wasn’t going for it and Dre snapped like you said.

Dre was calculated when she killed the YouTuber, btw.

You believe Marissa with her make-up taking off killed herself because she listened to an album? You just conceded she was no longer a stan for Ni’jaa but she killed herself because her husband cheated on her. That’s a contradiction. Dre killed her “friend” who she secretly loved and covered it up.

You see Marissa’s parents weren’t going for it and she never denied it when she was being accused.

 

[God Of Art]

She does blame him because she was going to move out and live with him. She tried to tempt her to stay with the Ni’jaa concert tix and Marissa snapped and said f them tix when they’re struggling.

How was Marissa left stranded by Khalid but Marissa was able to make it home and Marissa’s Jeep was parked outside.

Plus she committed "suicide" with her phone charging in the other room...and not in her bedroom and charging on the floor.

 

[jwinfield]

I also read the show deliberately wanted the main character to be evil or unlikable, with limited backstory for the actress to go off. IE she's a bad person so why should you sympathize with her! She's bad! No subtlety, no nuance.

Eh, without spoiling anything, there is an episode that addresses this pretty directly on some shyt.

Plus she committed "suicide" with her phone charging in the other room...and not in her bedroom and charging on the floor.

Yeah, not sure why someone about to kill themselves would charge their phone on the closet floor under a plastic bag.

I think she definitely blacks out. First episode she's still "weird" and has problems socializing, but she somehow has the confidence to go to a club, walks past a long line of people, her and the bouncer give each other a nod, she walks right in, goes up to the white dude and starts making out with him That was all a dream.

 

[Bryan Danielson]

Damn….. I did not realized that was that Billy Eilish broad.

She had them thangs covered up and her hair was a normal color. Thought she was just some generic cute white girl

 

[Sonic Boom of the South]

I tried to tell yall, black people in general dont like stories or writing without linear writing and those that make you think critical.

Thats why shows like Power, Godfather of Harlem and BMF are very street level. You make show that has too many layers, black folk get too annoyed at critical thinking and making their own opinions. Which is why "NOPE" was hated, even though it was well written and spoken out in the movie, alot of our people didnt understand it. We as a people like to be spoon fed stories, we dont have time to dissect and theorize in our community.

Thats why Anime was frowned upon and most of our shows dont have twists and intricate character development. Naturally, "Swarm" is gonna geaux over our heads in general. I enjoyed it and fenna run it back. Miss Fishback needs a Louisiana man.

Neg goofy c00n

 

[CodeBlaMeVi]

Eh, without spoiling anything, there is an episode that addresses this.

Yeah, not sure why someone about to kill themselves would charge their phone on the closet floor under a plastic bag.

I think she definitely blacks out. First episode she's still "weird" and has problems socializing, but she somehow has the confidence to go to a club, walks past a long line of people, her and the bouncer give each other a nod, she walks right in, goes up to the white dude and starts making out with him That was all a dream.

The white guy is Maucaley Culkin’s brother, btw.

 

[jwinfield]

The white guy is Maucaley Culkin’s brother, btw.

Yup.

 

[Blankthawtz]

Watching ep one now.... Will binge the season...

Spoiler

just for clarification... They not blood sisters right?...

 

[God Of Art]

Watching ep one now.... Will binge the season...

Spoiler

just for clarification... They not blood sisters right?...

Naw..adopted

 

[CodeBlaMeVi]

Watching ep one now.... Will binge the season...

Spoiler

just for clarification... They not blood sisters right?...

You will learn. Enjoy the ride.

 

[Mr Hate Coffee]

As long as they keep cranking out the stuff I enjoy I don’t care too much if they become a household name. We need niche stuff as much as we need mainstream stuff. Atlanta went out perfect in my eyes. I don’t hold this show in the same regard, but I did enjoy it exactly how it was. It didn’t take itself too seriously, as a show; I hope most people didn’t take it too seriously either. It was just a weird show to tell us a weird story and make us chuckle.

I agree but someone has to put the money up for it. Glover got this show off the strength of Atlanta. He probably named his price and Amazon was like

We'll see what happens tho. I look forward to whatever Donald Glover creates in the future. Same with Jordan Peele.