My Review of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Reunion"

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Reunion is an HBO exclusive that came out of nowhere. It has a lot of interesting stories that even the most hardcore of Fresh Prince fans would want to hear about. Hearing it from the horses mouth gives this episode a lot more weight and quashes rumors. It's an almost 2 hour episode that feels like it was just a half hour show.

The episode starts off with some nostalgic scenes of the first episode of the popular TV show. We soon realize that the TV show hasn't been on the air for 30 years. It's crazy to think of how much has changed but then we see Will. He's a lot older now but he has the same gravitas as he did 30 years ago. As he walks into the room there's a sense of warmth as all the old memories of what we've seen from the show start rushing back to us.

He's then met with the rest of the cast members of the show. It's a beautiful shot of the whole gang getting back together. I didn't think I'd be so emotional seeing these actors in one room together again. Although they might not be the same characters of the show there's a sense of me that identifies them as their characters. It's weird because it feels like I know them even though I only know the characters that they played on the show. There definitely was an emotional bond that had developed as I watched those episodes so many years ago.

They talk about how the show was created and even go through some of their audition tapes. It's also important that they expressed the importance of James Avery on the show who played uncle Phil. They have a few emotional montages that show the character uncle Phil as well as some scenes with James being himself. I can't believe how well they did it because I felt deeply connected to the character. They were also able to effectively express how important James was on the set as a human being. It was nice to hear how he had affected their lives so positively.

There are also a few surprise guests that we don't expect to see. One of the biggest surprises was the first aunt Viv, Janet Hubert. This little reconnect that they had on the show was actually more powerful than anticipated. For all these years all of us have wondered why they had changed the actress who played aunt Viv, especially when the first actress was so good.

The exchange between Will and Janet felt very genuine and emotional as we finally hear the full truth of what had happened. It's sort of a closure for the two but it's also some closure for the rest of the fans of the show. I was so happy to see the reconnection of all of the actors together. It was a little awkward seeing the two aunt Vivs together but I'm sure they're all at peace with what had happened in the past. It has been 30 years so it's time to move on and allow everyone to heal.

Overall, I really liked this episode. It was heartwarming and genuine. If you're a fan of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air TV show you have to watch this reunion because it will hit you in all the feels. This is nostalgia turned up to 11. I felt like I was blasted back in time and was able to enjoy those fond memories with the cast again in 2020. This is definitely something we need during the pandemic. I have to give this episode a 9 out of 10. Only those that have been hiding under a rock that haven't seen Fresh Prince need not apply.