At least fans of The Game wished it was all just a dream...
Last night marked the show's fourth season finale after BET saved it from cancellation hell, but the fans were left with the bitter taste of asphalt in their mouth with the finale as well as the entire season.
Having caught up with the show right before the fourth season premiere, I was scared that there would be some part of me that wouldn't have a complete grasp on the characters or the tone of the show. But after watching this season in its entirety, I could still see a major departure from what the show once was. I've had numerous conversations with fans, old and new, who had given up on the show since the new episodes began airing on BET. Some of the complaints, besides the writing and tone, mostly dealt with the core six characters either being caricatures of themselves, background props, or even nonexistent to the point of not caring anymore. Then there is the talk of the show becoming a hot bed for every black stereotype imaginable, but personally I feel as if that was there from the beginning, but I digress.
The bottom line is that fans of The Game were not impressed with these new 13 episodes and have cried foul by dropping the show from their appointment TV schedules. However, they did keep up with the show's storylines through word of mouth or reruns/DVR recordings, both of which doesn't help the show in the ratings which bled from it's record breaking 7.7 million debut to 3.53 million viewers last week. Those are still good numbers allegedly for a cable series, but it's a far cry from the hoopla and hype that lead to the show's fourth season premiere back in January.
So where did The Game go wrong in the eyes of its hardcore fans? I could list the offenses all day, but let's go with the top three.
1) Most of the Characters Were Simply Not The Same
While I personally expected (and prayed) for the characters to grow in some capacity from their time off the air, I didn't expect a complete personality face-lift. Melanie is now all about the Sabers and the Sunbeams, which was Kelly's old role before Jason went berserk. Derwin is all about his legacy, stepping on anyone who gets in his way, including friends. As for Malik, Tasha, and Jason, their laugh track factor was amped to the point that they became caricatures of themselves, at least most of the time. And don't let me start on the business of Kelly Pitts's character... My views on that tragedy alone could cause some people to give me the evil eye. I'm not even going to attempt to go there, so moving on...
2) Storylines Went Nowhere
One of the main things that everyone could agree on about The Game's fourth season were the dead end storylines that plagued the
season this year. The one storyline that comes to light is the whole Derwin/DJ/Janay debacle which went nowhere and was never mentioned again, unless it was a jab at Melanie's meddling in the situation. It's a shame though, because that storyline could've ran the rest of the season and would've been a far better representation of Derwin's character than what we were given. Instead the show was beset with too many C & D type arcs and not enough A & B arcs. The only consistent arc featured Malik's downward spiral, which was still frustrating to some extent due to us not knowing the basis of it until midway into the season. However, Hosea Chanchez took what was given to him this year and spun it into gold, so that storyline wasn't a complete loss in my eyes. This leads me to my final point.
3) The Game Needs to Go Into Overtime
Even though the show's first three seasons consisted of 30 minute episodes, I think it's safe to say that The Game should think about expanding its format. In fact, they should've thought about implementing it for this new season. I remember reading about Mara Brock Akil's plans to turn the show into a one hour dramedy/drama to save it from cancellation on The CW, which I wished she had of stuck with when transferring it to BET. The one hour premiere should've been an indicator of the show's potential to carry on in an hour long format, which would've gave Akil and her crew ample time to work out the character and story arcs more thoroughly than what was presented.
Plus, before last night's finale, the official BET The Game Twitter account asked fans to RT a tweet asking if the show should come back for in an hour format next year, which shows that the interest is there in the minds of the producers and network. Let's just hope they adopt it into practice when next season starts.
As for other issues at hand, like I said, we could be here all night listing what worked and what didn't on The Game this season. However, if anything is for certain between myself and other fans is that we are thankful for The Game's return to television. We just need for the writers and BET to do better next year.
i loved this season nd the past seasons. I hope the game stays on air and I will be one of the 3. whatever million to watch!