Summary
While Players does have some areas in which it could’ve done better, overall, the series is an excellent look inside the world of esports and what makes it so popular.
This review of Paramount+ series Players season 1 does not contain spoilers.
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I have been doing a weekly recap of the first season of Players. I am going to give my overall thoughts on season one.
I’ll be honest, when I found out that Players was coming out, I was excited because I am a gamer (a mediocre one). The idea of a TV series honing in on this space was exciting. The space has so much untapped potential that I believed if this was good, we could have a several-season show on our hands.
The Players series was built on the relationship of the aging veteran Creamcheese who brought so much to the gaming world but could never get over the hump, and the newcomer that is here to take over the next phase of esports in Organizm. The writing of these two was easily the best part of the series. You had Creamcheese not wanting to let go of being the man and doing everything he could to fend off the new guy. Organizm was the new kid in town, and while he respected what Creamcheese built, he was focused on himself.
As each episode passed, we saw this relationship grow more and more off the “field”. It leads to them becoming better during the games. The duo realized they needed each other. Organizm needed that mentorship and Creamcheese needed Organizm’s ability to take them to the next level. The story, arc, and acting made Players watchable week in and week out.
Throughout the season, there were great episodes but also some filler episodes. Still, there were more strong episodes than not, which was crucial in story-building and connecting with an audience. For me, the stakes were always high, making me want to continue watching it weekly. Although I will admit, this show might have been better off if it had dropped all at once instead of weekly.
Ultimately the show was backed by some strong acting by Misha Brooks (Creamcheese), Da’Jour JOnes (Organizm), and Ely Henry (Kyle Baxton). These three carried this show giving some great turns when they needed to. My favorite character was easily Guru played by Moses Storm (check out his standup I reviewed earlier this year). I want a spinoff show based on Guru and his story. I need it in my life because he was hilarious and an incredible “villain” of this story.
Some of the issues with the series were based on trying to veer off the critical stories. For example, I didn’t love the entire episode based on Nightfall. That was easily the weakest episode. The venture capital group coming in to do basically what Nathan was already doing was not great either.
Overall, Players is a very good show. While I think it had some areas that could’ve worked a little better, the story connected and landed really well. Plus how they ended the series, we need a season two and I would be all for it.
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