Dizzee has a new experience at a secret party in the city. As the guys gear up for a DJ battle, Zeke boards a political roller coaster.
It became clear during this half season of The Get Down that when the series was fun, loose and over-the-top, it was great and just exciting to watch. Several of the low-key moments worked as well. The main characters have really been fleshed out in some interesting ways as the season has developed. But the thing that drives the series forward is its musical performances. It's a show that has so much ambition. It wants to tell the story of the music that defined an entire generation and how the issues with one entire city led to its creation. That hasn't been an easy story to tell. In fact, the series has frequently lost itself when it tried looking at things from a macro level. The characters were being pulled in many different directions. But their decisions and journeys weren't always that engaging. But once the pulse started racing with music again, the episodes became electrifying in a way that could overlook all of those glaring problems. Did the show ever achieve greatness in these six episodes? No. But it sure was a fun ride getting to this point.Three characters are presented with a life-changing choice early on in "Raise Your Words, Not Your Voice." How far are they each willing to go in order to achieve their dreams? Their decisions in these moments could affect them for the first of their lives. The urgency of this sequence is powerful. The world is closing in on Zeke, Shaolin and Jackie. They have to decide what they are willing to do in order to survive. It's disappointing that it's the male characters being forced into these decisions. Mylene could have felt the pressure too. She's at a crossroads with her career. But Jackie takes on the brunt of this decision. That's weird considering he's a caricature of a character and his choice doesn't resonate in the same way that Zeke and Shaolin's do. He wants Mylene's song to become a hit record. But once again, he runs into problems because he is a terrible person with a checkered past. That has been his obstacle on every step of this journey with the Cruz family. He may be a genius songwriter but he has burned a lot of bridges in this industry. He's not above begging to get Mylene's song into the clubs. But that doesn't pan out to anything. He's defeated and unable to do anything more for Mylene's career. It's up to outside forces he has nothing to do with to push her into the spotlight. That's just an interesting decision to make in light of this framing device.
Meanwhile, Shaolin has to decide whether or not he can actually kill someone. That's a huge decision. It will change him completely moving forward. He can no longer have the moral superiority that he is not a hard and damaged gangster in the Bronx. Annie is forcing him to pull the trigger because he was the one who learned the truth about the club shooting. It's hard to care about the specifics of this story. Shaolin found the young gangster who slipped away from Cadillac earlier. That leads to the reveal that the man behind the club shooting is actually in Annie's inner circle. He did so as a way to keep her from expanding her territory. He thought it was a bad idea. And now, he's being punished because Annie knows the truth. She's getting older and softer. That's why she allows Shaolin to shoot him once which effectively kills him for this betrayal. It's a key character moment for Shaolin. After he pulls the trigger, he can't go back and erase it. He is now a part of this criminal enterprise no matter what. He can no longer escape just as easily as he did back in the second episode. He's a part of this family now. That now comes with new responsibilities. Pressures that may keep him from achieving his musical dreams that could lead him away from this life. And yet, that internal conflict is fairly minor in the rest of the episode because he is able to bring both of his worlds together for the big musical performance in the end.
That's something that Zeke struggles with immensely throughout the entire episode. Zeke wants to be a part of The Get Down Brothers. But he also wants to succeed with this new internship. He doesn't know if the music will be able to lift him out of this community. His smarts on the other hand can do just that. He is impressing so many people by coming into his own as a leader. That has forced him into a box a little bit. He's forced to accept the political mentality of what this city needs. That stands in stark contrast to the ideals he holds dear. His friendships mean something to him. But by standing up at the Ed Koch rally, he's essentially coming out against Dizzee's graffiti and The Get Down Brothers' music. It's an opportunity he wants. But it increasingly feels like he's going to have to choose between his two passions. Right now, the music is winning easily. That's the main focus of the show. The internship still feels like something that purely complicates Zeke's life. Something that escalates the tension throughout the second half of the episode. Zeke is cutting it close with the big DJ battle. The music of that event is creeping into the rally. Ed Koch believes the system has broken down so much that the younger generation no longer respects authority. He sees the graffiti and the loud music as disruptive to all of society. Meanwhile, Zeke sees them as something beautiful. A shift in the culture. He serves as a way to blend the two worlds together. And yet, he has much more fun once he steps on that stage and performs with his friends.
Dizzee is faced with a new world as well that could drastically change his life. At first, Dizzee was a character who didn't have a whole lot of value or dimension. It was simply the role played by Jaden Smith - a casting decision to boost excitement for the show. It was a stiff and a little alienating of a performance too. He doesn't gel as well as the rest of The Get Down Brothers do. But that feels intentional as well. Dizzee is a guy who experiences and reacts to the world in a different way. It's not good or bad. It's just different. He still feels passionate about the same things the rest of the crew does. He just approaches that passion in different ways. So, it should come as no surprise that he enjoys the excitement and amusement of a gay club in the 1970s. He responded in a raw and sensual way to Mylene's song. It was an unexpected reaction that he just had to get out while listening to it. That's the precise kind of energy that dominates this sequence. Dizzee is not sure what he's witnessing but he enjoys it. He was pulled into Thor's world. And now, he has been seduced by it. It's captivating and truly exciting to watch. It's because of Dizzee that Mylene's song hits the club circuit. He made that happen. But he doesn't need the appreciation or gratitude of that action either. He saved Mylene's career. But to him, it was just about a room full of unique people getting down and celebrating an awesome piece of music.
At the end of the day, that's exactly what the show is about. It's a celebration of music. The circumstances of the world inform the personal reactions of every generation. In the 1970s, a decaying infrastructure led to this rebelling that created the get down movement. And now, The Get Down Brothers are becoming a symbol for how exciting and compelling that can be. This is their first public performance. It's still going to take a lot of hard work for Zeke to become the man twenty years in the future performing for a packed stadium. But it's so invigorating watching as the group comes together to put the Notorious Three in their place. Their rivals have better sound equipment that can really make some noise. But The Get Down Brothers have the originality that can truly define and excite a movement. They aren't just accepting the common tricks that are becoming more popular. They are expanding the reach of what this musical genre can do. They have no limitations for what they can do as a group. It's no surprise at all that they emerge victorious in this battle. It's their first great musical performance as a group. It's enough to win over the appreciation and respect of the neighborhood and Mylene. Change is coming for these characters. But their futures are looking brighter than ever before despite the uncertainty of whether these new opportunities will be any better than the previous ones.
Some more thoughts:
- "Raise Your Words, Not Your Voice" was written by Seth Zvi Rosenfeld & Sam Bromell and directed by Ed Bianchi.
- Why couldn't Mylene, Yolanda and Regina have seen more of The Get Down Brothers' performance? They've been very reluctant to embrace their type of music. But they finally come around after seeing them perform for a captivated audience. And yet, they literally just come in for the end! They were too busy singing the national anthem at the Ed Koch rally - which makes very little sense at all! Why did they sing after Zeke spoke? Why didn't they start the rally with the anthem? Why couldn't they have run away with Zeke once he had to leave?
- It's only after Mylene's song starts playing at the clubs that the industry starts to look at Jackie as a genius again. But it's also important to see how naive Mylene still is about this whole experience. Her dream record label shows an interest in her and she decides to sign with them immediately. All of this despite Francisco and the label head telling her to listen to other offers as well.
- So apparently, something has officially started between Francisco and Lydia. That dynamic wasn't important for most of this hour. And then, there's just a random scene of the two of them getting close then distracted by Mylene's song being on the radio.
- Shaolin tells Annie he can still succeed with selling drugs at his music events. And yet, that's a fairly minor part of that actual sequence. The performance is great. And then, the show suddenly remembers it needs to show Shaolin's underlings actually moving the product.
- The idea that Cadillac witnesses The Get Down Brothers' performance and immediately responds with them ruining the soul of disco could be an effective moment. But he has been such a laughable and non-essential character that it just seems completely unnecessary.
- That's it for this half season of The Get Down. It has had its fair share of problems. But overall, it has been a lot of fun. It should be interesting to see where the story goes next whenever the show returns in 2017 for the remainder of its first season.
As noted in previous reviews from this series, every episodic review was written without having seen any succeeding episodes. Similarly, it would be much appreciated if in the comments, the conversation would only revolve around the show up to this point in its run.
