TV Binge: On My Block (Season 3, 2020)

Check out TV binge for previous 2 seasons below:

Season 1
Season 2

On My Block (Season 3, 2020)

Creators: Eddie Gonzalez, Jeremy Haft, Lauren Iungerich

Cast: Sierra Capri, Jason Genao, Brett Gray, Diego Tinoco, Jessica Marie Garcia, Peggy Blow, Julio Macias, Paula Garces, Reggie Austin, Ada Luz Pla

A coming-of-age story about four bright, street-savvy friends navigating their way through high school in the gritty inner city of South Central Los Angeles. Dealing with the danger of getting their friend out of a gang and friends turning into romance, danger is constant. – IMDB

Picking up right after the shocking ending of the four friends getting kidnapped off the streets, On My Block Season 3 starts off with them kidnapped to see Cuchillos, the head of the Santos, who end up thanking them for getting rid of The Prophets and then of course, just like expected, sending them on a much more dangerous task: finding Ricky who is probably not dead (contrary to what is believed). This mission is one that they not only have a time limit with some serious consequences if they don’t achieve it but at the same time, one that they must tackle without anyone else knowing but having to find somewhere to start despite their own arguments among themselves and get back together to face it together with the help of Spooky and Jasmine.

The writers of this show actually did a really great choice at this point as while the four friends, Cesar (Diego Tinoco), Monse (Sierra Capri), Ruby (Jason Genao) and Jamal (Brett Gray), are all still our main set of characters, they decided to write in much more depth continuing on from Season 2 for Spooky (Julio Macias) and more importantly, Jasmine (Jessica Marie Garcia) who turns out to be so much more than where she started in Season 1. Its knowing when their problems can’t be the only things in the picture that it gives the show a lot more boost with those two as it turns into a team of five tackling this with a little outside/family help from Spooky. There are still a lot of the familiar problems carrying forward between the four. Monse and Cesar are tackling their relationship and whether they should be together because of bad decisions and other factors as well as family issues; Ruby still has a lot of inner troubles from the trauma he experienced but in this one, he’s also realizing his problems has caused real financial problems for his parents while Jamal tackles girl problems and figuring out his priorities. While Monse used to be the glue for the group, surprisingly, everyone has some healing and Jasmine ends up really getting them straight on what’s more important and how to set their problems aside and work together, even if by the end, things don’t quite work out as intended, which will make Season 4 an interesting change in events for these characters, if it happens. The new group dynamic did give a good boost.

Another great writing is really giving a lot of balance to the characters. Its a quick 8 episodes every season but getting to see equal doses of these characters for their own quirks and problems is the first step to lead to a realization that this group is not as solid as it used to be in Season 1 especially as they grow up and face more problems. In this one, this mission takes them on some crazy locations and meets some funny and at times, over the top, people that truly give this season a lot of charm. Its the process of this mission that makes more of a bang than how it ends, very in tune with how this show does manage to give it a humorous mostly because of not understanding the seriousness of the situation right from the first season. In that sense, the tone here is darker but still has that balance of light-hearted and awkward humor to make it a fun watch especially in the case of Jamal and Ruby who come together in this one a lot and really come up with some crazy ideas. Together they can make all kinds of bad logic work out in their minds that its okay and that is rather incredible despite things usually not going the way they expected.

With that said, while the whole series does move fairly quickly and is overall, a fun trip with roles like Jamal, Jasmine, Ruby really having some shining moments as well as giving a lot more for Spooky to do that makes him such a deeper character that would be nice see further how it all plays out in the next season. While its not exactly a downfall, the more lackluster characters do go to Cesar and Monse mostly because they seem to always revolve in the same problems since end of Season 1 to this season and they  have the same struggles, which gives them less character development than before. With 8 episodes though, its definitely a bingeworthy show for fans of the show.

What’s Up Week 14: And the second quarter of 2019 begins

As we enter into the second quarter of 2019, things are finally seeming to get some balance as nothing seems to be too skewed to one category, which is how I’d like for this segment to go (but I know its only a rarity). Either way, I don’t deliberately do anything so it was all a relatively fun week.

READING

• Obsidio (The Illuminae Files #3) Review
• Fables Vol.2 Animal Farm

Currently reading: The Collection of Negatives

The Illuminae Files did not disappoint and actually its made me crave for some more sci-fi reading adventures (although I usually end up regretting it afterwards). Its the format and structure of this one that really works for me. Of course, I’m falling behind in the Goodreads Reading challenge with 8 books completed out of 40 (2 books behind..although one of the selections had 4 books together..so am I still behind?). I am also working on some of the other little things sitting around like graphic novels and such, which leads me to Fables Volume 2 Animal Farm. I like the Fables thing especially with Telltale Games The Wolf Among Us that really worked for me, sadly with the company’s shutdown, the sequel isn’t happening. Maybe some other company will pick up on the idea and adapt some game in that realm, we never know, right?

PLAYING

Currently playing: Omnicube, FutureGrind

Back to some previous titles that I put down and forgot to get back to. Surprisingly fun with company rather than solo even if these are single player games. They are more indie titles  and things that take priority. The first is a puzzle game called Omnicube which is about shifting colored boxes into their colored portals. It got pretty challenging after a while. As for FutureGrind, its a fun little arcade game where its a bit like Trials but with a two wheel bike that you have to rotate to go on the right colored rails. It sounds easy but things get a little harder. Both of them have a back story to it. Either way, I’ll be getting those playthroughs up on the channel soon :). I’ll be gaming more to build up some backlog for the second half of April when things get too hectic to even think about gaming, let alone editing.

WATCHING

• The 5th Wave
• Gods of Egypt
• The Incredible Hulk
• Ouija

My double feature segment may be in order but I don’t always follow the order when watching it, mostly because my husband wouldn’t watch some of those movies with me so I bumped them backwards. Among a bunch of not so good movies (notice the pattern yet?), the standout this week has to go to The Incredible Hulk. I had the initial ambition of doing my own little Marvel marathon until I realized that I only had Phase 1 films from MCU and then Netflix pulled a lot of the older ones and I wasn’t going to rent or buy them so I quickly dismissed that idea. Anyways, I finally caught up with The Incredible Hulk which was the only Phase 1 movie that I hadn’t seen so now to catch up with the newer titles, starting with Spiderman Homecoming next in line.

BINGING

• On My Block (Season 2, 2019) Review

Currently binging: The Brightest Star in the Sky, The Singer 2019, Mr. Swimmer, Great Escape, The Legend of White Snake, Viva La Romance (Season 2), Master in the House

TV series is going to be the death of me. So many new ones, variety and drama, and they were all on my radar and came out at the same time. The Singer 2019 is hitting its finals so that is going to end soon and I’m still taking a break from Mr. Swimmer (probably will until I get another 4 more TV binges done to thin out the backlog more) however keeping it here so I don’t forget to finish it up. The issue with Great Escape and Viva La Romance Season 2 is that they are only able to watch full episodes on Mango TV app and that app isn’t compatible to Chromecast so its a pain to watch on the phone so I only watch it certain times of the day. My guess is Master in the House is going to be the same way as it seems Mango TV is taking this new approach probably to maximize their profits from their own app and not benefit YouTube. I get where they are coming from but its just inconvenient. With that out of the way, my fave series right now is The Brightest Star in the Sky and The Legend of White Snake which is currently streaming on Tencent app.

That’s it for this What’s Up!
The starts of the 2nd quarter has been pretty good!

What have you been watching/playing/reading/binging?

TV Binge: On My Block (Season 2, 2019)

You can find the first season HERE.

***If you haven’t watched the first season and intend to, spoiler alert!!!***

On My Block (Season 2, 2019)

Creators: Eddie Gonzalez, Jeremy Haft, Lauren Iungerich

Cast: Sierra Capri, Brett Gray, Diego Tinoco, Jason Genao, Jessica Marie Garcia, Peggy Blow, Julio Macias, Danny Ramirez, Paula Garcés, Lisa Marcos, Reggie Austin

A coming-of-age story about four bright, street-savvy friends navigating their way through high school in the gritty inner city of South Central Los Angeles. Dealing with the danger of getting their friend out of a gang and friends turning into romance, danger is constant. – IMDB

Picking up after a cliffhanger ending in Season 1, Season 2 of On My Block resumes in the aftermath of the shooting that went on at Olivia’s Quincinera party. Suffice to say that On My Block lost one of the characters. The second season of On My Block is much more serious than the first one. It is about healing and picking up the pieces for everyone whether physically and mentally. Some like Monse (Sierra Capri) is trying to hold the group together as they all heal from the trauma; Ruben (Jason Genao) is healing physically and mentally in dealing with the event and losing someone he loves; Cesar (Diego Tinoco) is healing from guilt and the fact that he is dead to his brother (Julio Macias) and have no home while Jamal (Brett Gray), in his nervous personality, is stressing out how to share the news of finding the RollerWorld money and then, as a group, how to wash the money so they can now split it among the friends and use it.

The second season of On My Block takes a shift in tone. While it still keeps the essence of each of these characters, the events of the first season has changed them. However, its a good thing because it was an inevitable stage of development that each of the characters needed to go through. In reality, its easy to see how each of their change makes sense. Each of them have their own burdens and have their own story. What  makes this season very bingeworthy is the fact that the show remembers to zoom into how certain relationships (friendship, love, bromance) is emphasized on further because its hard to not find that one person that is there or understands more than the next. The group is still a unit and they find their way back to each other all the time one way or another. Its that extra focus that adds a lot of depth to each of these characters.

The strength of the show is in how it treats each of these 4 young characters and Sierra Capri, Diego Tinoco, Jason Genao and Brett Gray bring them to life exceptionally. They give them each of their unique characteristics and they are characters that we want to see survive through all the difficult situations and choices they need to make. However, what makes them beautiful is that they remember that these are still teenagers and still give them some shenanigans that make them reflect their age and lack of experience in the real world. What makes it also very special is that its hard to tell who does a better job because as much as the story seems to focus on Cesar’s carryforward situation and he goes through possibly some of the biggest struggles here, his situation affects Monse’s decisions also while she struggles with her personal choices. At the same time, we can ignore that Ruben is also going through a lot and he has a whirlwind of situation as he tries to heal and move on which is much more inner process and we can’t forget Jamal, who doesn’t seem to be grounded in the other struggles but as the one that creates a lot of the comedic moments, has his share of glue that brings together the group because of these things that don’t feel as important.

While the story remains strongly focused on these four friends, this season gives a lot more room for other supporting characters. The first season spent a lot of time for Olivia (who we now know is not part of the show) and Ruben’s grandmother played by Peggy Blow, who still has a focus and remains one of the most entertaining characters of the show. What did get a lot of attention this time and that gave her a new angle is Jasmine, played by Jessica Marie Garcia. There is a lot of potential for this character to grow because we’ve only seen one side of her in the first season and this season, she is given a whole new area to develop as she finds her bond in Ruben as she has a more positive outlook and happiness to her character that we see is one of her unique traits and makes her have something to teach these four as well. Other than that, we also see some more of the family members as they get extended appearances from Ruben’s mom to Monse’s father and of course, carrying from the first season, Cesar’s brother.

Overall, On My Block might not be quite the light and fun bingeworthy season that the first season one as its heavier in its themes. However, what makes it still be as great as the first one is that it takes the step to give these characters a lot of depth and growth from the things they have gone through and create bonds between each of them. I didn’t mention a lot of the bonds but a few fun ones do pop up and they also give the series a nice change in pace. If you have been watching this series, Season 2 will not disappoint and it’ll leave you looking forward to (hopefully) Season 3 (as I am right now..and waiting for the new that there will be one).

Music Obsessions – May 2018

I can’t believe that the weekend is about to end. And then it hit me that I actually never posted up this post…well..actually it was never finished. So, that’s a problem..haha! Either way, here we go! Better late than never, right? I have been still going through somewhat of a nostalgic phase but I have also found some cool new music particularly from TV show soundtrack and movie. I’ll talk more about it in the descriptions below the songs.

Hope you enjoy!

Duelling Pianos: Why I’m Talking to You/Till You’re Gone – Jon McLaughlin feat Gabe Dixon

I love Jon McLaughlin ever since I heard ‘So Close’ from Enchanted and he’s always been on my radar. This popped up on my feed the other day from his Duelling Pianos series and I love this mash-up so much with Gabe Dixon as they sing each other’s song, ‘Till You’re Gone’ and ‘Why I’m Talking To You’. Its a ton of fun. Plus, I do play the piano and since I played mostly classical stuff, I’m less fluent in these groovy bluesy style of free-style piano. Habits are quite hard to break but these songs always give me something to motivate me to spend more time trying to get to a place where I’m comfortable with playing songs like this.

Killing Strangers – Marilyn Manson feat Tyler Bates (John Wick Soundtrack)

My husband was making lots of comments about how many times I played this song after I saw John Wick. Either way, its a fantastic song. It has a ton of mood and matches the movie so well. The song is great but its also nice to remind me of how great John Wick is.

Sweetest Life – KWAYE

So..if you didn’t know, I binge-watched the Netflix Original series On My Block about 3 times and one of the opening of the episodes was with this song by KWAYE called Sweetest Life. There is so much I love about that series and I’m so happy that they got green-lit for a second season. Can’t wait! In the mean time, I’ll probably binge-watch it again sometime in the next few months and listen to this really fun song. Actually, the soundtrack for the entire season is great so check it out if you have time!

You Are The Reason – Calum Scott

A very slow song compared to the other choices but I love the lyrics of it and Calum Scott has a beautiful voice. I actually hadn’t listened to the radio for months and then turned it on right when they switched to this song. Its quite full of emotion, which is a good thing.

Smart – Tension

Its been kind of weird because I’ve been seeing ‘NSync pop up on Ellen lately after a few weeks of listening to a few of their music and then some Backstreet Boys medley and other 90s music stuff. It kind of lead me to thinking about some Taiwanese boy bands and then landed on Tension, which was like the 2000s version of Backstreet Boys/’NSync. The similarities of their music videos at least in the vibe of it all kind of gave them an edge. Plus Taiwan went through a phase of having these kinds of boy bands with Energy, 5566, F4 and eventually, Fahrenheit (which are ones I liked). Unfortunately, Tension disbanded when their contract ended due to not agreeing to what they were outlined for the future of their group and limited them creatively (according to some research). Actually, the fun fact here is that the group member, Jimmy Hung is actually one of the sons of Sammo Hung.

Coffee Please – Jay Hardway

What kind of music obsessions would it be without some electronic music, right? Jay Hardway honestly has never disappointed me with any of this music.  I discovered him through Electric Elephants which I think is still my favorite of his but this one is pretty good as well. Great beats in general and gets me into a great mood and energy!

That’s it for this month’s Music Obsessions!
What have you been listening to lately?

TV Binge: On My Block (Season 1, 2018)

I have a ton of TV Binge to review but after finishing On My Block this past weekend (for the second time), I decided to bump this one up so we could look at it a little earlier. I picked this out completely spontaneously and well, lets just say that its worth some talk about and if you haven’t seen it, you probably should. I promise to avoid the big spoilers but if you plan on watching this series, its probably best read only the top portion and not look at the breakdown. I should have a spoiler alert in there just to stop you to from going further.

On My Block (Season 1, 2018)

Creator: Eddie Gonzalez, Jeremy Haft, Lauren Iungerich

Cast: Sierra Capri, Jason Genao, Diego Tinoco, Brett Gray, Ronni Hawk, Peggy Blow, Julio Macias, Jessica Marie Garcia

A coming-of-age comedy about four bright, street-savvy friends navigating their way through high school in the gritty inner city of South Central Los Angeles. – IMDB

I’ve talked about my disappointment in teen movies lately on Netflix with F the Prom (review) and #RealityHigh (review) so for me to jump into this one was quite the spontaneous event. I knew nothing about this series beforehand and while it seemed like it was a teen comedy and most of the time, it did maintain the humor throughout because of its charismatic and charming young cast, it still highlighted some of the underlying issues in the neighborhood that they lived in. For example, when they heard gunshots, they would guess casually which type it was. With that said, once the first episode started, it reminded me of my experience watching (and reading) Freedom Writers (review), which happens to be one of my favorite movies and such a powerful movie to say the least. On My Block gave me exactly the same feeling and trust me when I say that its a great compliment from me to the creators and cast of this show.

The structure of the show is also very binge-worthy with 10 episodes of 30 minutes each. It goes for a quick season and just fun little doses of the story which keeps it paced quick enough to understand the situation and the teens. The story itself packs in all kinds of relationships and secrets. Its a coming of age for each of the teens in this group as new people join into their crew and situations occur with family. Everyone has their own story and their own struggle and they are growing and adapting and reacting to everything around them. It keeps the story focused and fun because while they struggle, there is this bond that makes them so special to watch. Not to mention, they have an amazing soundtrack to match up everything here.

The charm of the show does lie in its great writing but also in how Sierra Capri, Jason Genao, Diego Tinoco and Brett Gray take on their roles as Monse, Ruby, Cesar and Jamal respectively. They add a great deal of personality and it gives their characters such a genuine and believable quality to it all. We cheer for them and laugh with them while celebrate their little successes and feel bad for their failures. Life might seem trivial in their eyes but they also have much bigger things to deal with in the background especially with their neighborhood their in. Its a unique (because it is very rarely used at least to my knowledge) setting and I don’t know how accurate it reflects this urban community but its nice to see a show not focused on rich kids with their self-inflicted problems (for the most part). Its  refreshing angle and an intriguing one that has me very excited for season 2, which I believe has been announced since I finished the season.  But then they also have some fun supporting characters that really are incredibly fun as well from Olivia (Ronnie Hawk) to Ruby’s grandmother (Peggy Blow) and of course Spooky (Julia Macias).

On My Block highlights a lot of great themes and packs in some great characters. If you haven’t seen the series, my suggestion is this point forward will have *mild spoilers* as I go into a more in-depth breakdown of different elements.

Friendship

There’s something so naive and yet great about this friendship between the four main characters here. Monse, Jamal, Cesar and Ruby.These childhood friends have such a great dynamic despite being different in their own goals and personalities. However, its these differences that compliment each other and make for such comedic moments which gives this story, despite its shadowing difficulties from each character and their backgrounds and situations, a much less intense sort of vibe.

Along with these childhood friends, Ruby’s house is inhabited by a family friend’s daughter, Olivia. Its the first girl friend that Monse actually connects with. The way that their friendship develops is quite something to be admired. Many shows us boys as a breaking point between girls but these two show genuine respect for each other and put their friendship before other things. Its truly some goals to see happen more in TV series, especially in teen shows.

Love

It’s hard to do shows without the love arc and I have to say that this friendship we see is so strong that it’s hard to see that Monse and Cesar have a thing going on in secret. Somehow the being in secret part is also quite apparent so its funny how Jamal and Ruby haven’t seen through it. However, I like this little love story they have going on here. Plus, you add in the fact of finding a balance between a friendship and loving someone. You can totally see their struggle but also fall in love with them a little as well.  On the other hand, we also have the Ruby’s infatuation with Olivia and then Olivia’s obvious attraction to Cesar which takes a general play in the series as well. Ruby does a lot of sweet and corny things but I think its because of these things that makes his character such a memorable one as well.

Personal Dilemmas

While the show does pace itself fairly quickly, the four characters each have their own focus. Monse first start with her love issue but then morphs into tracking a lady she brushes by and she suspects is her mother who left her when she was a baby. Cesar has his gang background that he struggles to accept especially as his group of friends tries very hard to keep him as he was before he was jumped in. That part of the story is intriguing especially as we get to see him bond with his brother, Spooky and realize that everyone has their own dreams. Ruby on the other hand maybe is the most fortunate as he turns into the goofy guy who really just wants some privacy and have his own room while balancing out the group but trying to impress Olivia. Finally, Jamal probably has the simplest but also the oddest personal dilemma and goal: the first is to impress his dad and pretend to be in the football team which ends up being some of the most hilarious parts in the story. The comedic moments with Jamal continues as he looks at his dream and belief that takes him on a treasure hunt for what he believes is the RollerWorld money. As crazy as his schemes are and everyone with their own problems and while four characters seems like a lot to track in such a short season run time, it definitely covers what it needs to enough to connect with these four.

Memorable Supporting/Cameo Characters

There are so many supporting characters here. I can’t quite place whether Olivia is considered a supporting character but she does get a lot of time with the group since she’s the new addition. Possibly the most hilarious one goes to Peggy Blow as Abuelita. She is a quirky one. While she seems like the silly grandma in the background, she also is the one that helps out in the background as well and says some hilarious things. She’s hard but supportive, exactly how I remember my grandparents. She supports Jamal through RollerWorld and helps Olivia and Ruby when they need it even when she feels underappreciated. In many ways, she is more there than the parents and teaches some important values to them. As we go along, this group meets all these colorful characters from the parents of these four to a man who finds company in a garden gnome.

Overall

On My Block is absolutely a great binge. It was so great that I binged it a second time and almost wanted to go for a third time. Great young characters set in a dangerous backdrop which makes a tone change almost halfway through. There’s a lot of personal dilemma and character development. The soundtrack is awesome and well, even in its dangerous and dramatic moments, they have a decent amount of comedy to balance it out. Its tough to find charming and unique teen TV shows nowadays but this one doesn’t only highlight a specific group but also does a great job at it while delivering a fantastic story. Its probably going to be a long wait for Season 2 (hopefully not), but I’m definitely looking forward to see where it goes, especially with the cliffhanger ending of Season 1. I have a few guesses but the creators/writers of the show have caught me off-guard quite a few times so I’m guessing they’ll do something unpredictable as well.

Have you seen On My Block? Thoughts?