Top Boy Series 3 Discussion Thread | (Netflix)

[ogc163]

Song from trailer

 

[Wise]

I’m gonna need a recap of the two seasons

 

[RennisDeynolds]

At least gem won't be in this season that fukking clown And that psycho Chinese that got murked in his own store

 

[Jax]

Can't wait!

 

[WavyHair ChippedTeeth]

I forgot how morally bankrupt Kano's character is. He's cold.

Trailer was good, so lemme jump the gun and predict this is basically gonna be a Barksdale vs Stansfield situation?

I hope they continue with the gentrification subplot that was happening in the area.

Oh and of course, that solicitor best be in this. Them thighs were

 

[OJ Simpsom]

Do I need to watch the first 2 seasons?

 

[Nicole0416_718_929_646212]

Terrible name.

it's U.K. origin - doesn't have the same connotations that we think it does. Top Boy is their slang for leader in the hood. Lol at even their slang sounding proper.
First two seasons were dope

a pregnant lady growing weed at her home and recruiting a little kid to cultivate it though

 

[Nicole0416_718_929_646212]

Do I need to watch the first 2 seasons?

Yes. Definitely. You'll be lost if you don't. Based on character development and the friendship/relationship dynamics. Also, the stories all connect. It's not like here in the U.S. where the drag the episodes out. I think it's only like 4-5 eps per season. So it moves along fast.

 

[Nicole0416_718_929_646212]

All I remember about this show is the how incompetent the two main guys were at crime, doing robberies with no masks in broad daylight. Also Dushane saying “mum you know I can’t eat without any peppa sauce , you want me to starve “



I hope season 3 is better than 2

the way that he acted with his mom, doesn't match his persona on the street... at all.

 

[DaRealness]

At least gem won't be in this season that fukking clown And that psycho Chinese that got murked in his own store

Gem is back it seems.



Even that weird kid from Season 2 is back - I didn't even recognise cos he's grown up.

I just don't know how they have those two in S3 and not Ranell.

 

[DaRealness]

Dushane should have learned his lesson and got out the game after what happened last time.

Exactly. One of his mans and that boy got murked in his own flat and his brother cut him off after being attacked all because of him.

Dude should have got into IT and joined the certs gang instead.

 

[RennisDeynolds]

the way that he acted with his mom, doesn't match his persona on the street... at all.

That scene was so terrible

 

[Nicole0416_718_929_646212]

Gem is back it seems.



Even that weird kid from Season 2 is back - I didn't even recognise cos he's grown up.

I just don't know how they have those two in S3 and not Ranell.

They made Gem into a crackhead what were all those spots on his face?
And all the kids from the original series are looking like full grown adults now I wasn’t expecting that. Ranell was a major player in the original story, I don’t know how they could develop this without his role

 

[FaTaL]

How could I have missed this? It’s back!

 

[all3rd]

Already getting critics.

Sorry Drake, bringing back Top Boy is a step back for black British culture

Sorry Drake, bringing back Top Boy is a step back for black British culture
TV is finally letting black artists tell a different type of story, so why is Drake highlighting the gang culture of Top Boy?

I want to start by saying that I bloody love Drake, I enjoy his music, his eyebrows weirdly do it for me and he’s the only celebrity ever to apologise to me after accidentally stepping on my foot. You’d be surprised at the number who don’t – I’m looking at you, Kanye West, and you, Judge Rinder.

Aubrey Drake Graham has championed black British music from day one, sampling our funky house songs, shouting out our UK Garage artists, collaborating with our grime stars. He’s even used our slang, bless him. And I’m all for it. I’m so proud of black British music, and everything Drake has done to bring it to the forefront of popular culture is epic. To quote Kris Jenner: Drake, you’re doing amazing sweetie… But bringing back Top Boy? The gangs, guns and drug-ridden black drama that Channel 4 cancelled six years ago? Why Drake, why?

To understand my view, maybe you should learn a bit about me, first, so you can gain a bit of perspective and I can humblebrag a bit.

My name is London Hughes, I’m 30, I’m a hilarious black female comic from Thornton Heath, Croydon (the birthplace of Stormzy and south London’s first 24-hour Tesco). I’ve been working in British TV and entertainment for almost a decade now and I recently became the first black British woman ever to be nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy award, so let’s just say, I’m used to taking up space in white places.

On television, I have often played the role of the token black person, making me a spokesperson for all things black culture for white people who have no black friends or who haven’t bothered to do their research.

When Top Boy arrived on Channel 4 in 2011, written and created by the Northern Irish screenwriter Ronan Bennett (a white man, lol), the same thing happened: British people thought that here was black culture. I couldn’t blame them: what other shows were depicting Black Britain on TV at the time? The extent of black British culture seemed to be one black family on Eastenders.

Read More:

London Hughes: ‘If I was a white dude, would I be at the Edinburgh Fringe or would I be selling out arenas?’

The television industry jumped on Top Boy – the show was gritty, edgy, critically acclaimed and constantly came up in meetings I found myself in. I forever had to explain to white people that, no I had never been in a gang (that’s a lie, I was in a library gang: we used to sit and read books at speed because we were very, very cool), yes I was from South London, but no I’d never heard a gunshot in real life.

The depiction of black people on British TV over the years has not only been sparse, but terribly one-sided. Black men have been portrayed as thugs, while black boys made delightful cameos on popular shows such as Crimewatch and the News at 10. By the time Top Boy arrived, that was the version of Black Britain that stuck.

Off the back of Top Boy’s success came shows such as BBC Three’s true crime dramas, “My Murder” (2012) and 2014’s “Murdered by my Boyfriend”. (Fun fact – there are no BBC Three dramas about black people which don’t have the word “Murder” in the title). As important and gripping as these stories are, they shouldn’t be the only ones being told. For every Top Boy, there should be at least one “Keisha goes to Uni”.

The narrative is slowly starting to shift, however. In 2016, BBC1 aired the six-part drama Undercover, which starred Britain’s first upper middle-class black family in which Sophie Okonedo played a barrister. This year, Dark Money told the story of a working-class black family, but with no gangs and no knife crime. Last year, there was even Sky One’s Bulletproof with Noel Clarke and Ashley Walters (who also stars in Top Boy), playing two black policemen.

Read More:

Drake the TV producer: Started from Degrassi now we here

We’re finally starting to see black actors playing people and not just stereotypes. We’re finally shifting the narrative and offering more to the mainstream than the downsides of black Britain and gang culture. We’re finally starting to see different parts of black culture being celebrated, different black voices being heard. Black talents are finally being allowed to create their own stories, in their own words. And then Drake comes along and says, ‘Let’s take Top Boy and put it on the world stage! Let’s introduce Black Britain to the world this way! Here you are, Netflix!’

I’m currently in the process of making my own scripted comedy show in America, and I cannot wait to explain to them, too, that yes, I am black, yes I am from South London, but no, I have never been in a gang, nor heard a gunshot in real life.

These haters already.