Last Chance U Netflix Web Series Season 1 Honest Review

Season 1 Review 

Whether it's a shocking upset like Leicester winning the Premier League or Holly Holmes defeating Ronda Rousey, there's something eternally endearing about a good sports story. Over the years, we've been graced with numerous small screen efforts that attempt to recreate that magic, from the ever-popular All or Nothing series to Formula 1: Drive for Survival.

  Netflix's Last Chance Backed Off in 2016, focusing on the competitive field of college football instead of looking at the NFL big time. The result was an emotionally engaging series that brought the best elements of the sport together in a more intimate way, looking at the lives and society shaped by this wildly popular sport.

  Fast forward to 2021 and Netflix is ​​back, this time focusing on basketball. After last year's Final Dance, it was inevitable that basketball would get its chance to shine, and this season has been no disappointment.

  Split across 8 episodes, Last Chance U: Basketball focuses on community college basketball following East Los Angeles College's 2019-2020 season. Games are played in squeaky clean school gymnasiums; A far cry from the NBL. However, they are certainly still a thrill ride.

  Regular matches throughout the season appear, with explanatory text helping to show scores that evolve and change over time. While there have been some dramatic comebacks and strong performances, the focus here is on what's happening off the field.

  Like any good sports documentary series, the bread and butter of this show comes from the characters that inhabit this world. Driving the team forward and the key to the team's success is John Mosley. 

 Fans of Coach Carter will almost certainly draw some parallels here, with his no-nonsense attitude and some eye-opening, harsh retorts to his players. Yelling is the norm here, keeping players in check – and on their toes – with a constant “What do you want?” with his mantra. along with prayers in the locker room.

  A captain is only as good as his team, and thankfully John has a colorful cast of players under his wing to help create such an interesting ensemble. From players recovering from serious injuries like Joe Hampton or characters like Deshaun Highler who lost his mother at a young age, every important player is given enough screen time and you really get a feel for who these guys are.

  This eventually feeds into the aforementioned games, where there are many episodes depicting a basketball game taking place. There's the usual set of cliffhangers to keep you watching, and this combined focus on court gameplay and character stories is sure to keep you glued to the screen. You'll be on the edge of your seat more than once, and that's really the beauty of the sport, packed into 8 deliciously engrossing episodes. It all builds to a dramatic crescendo ... ending suddenly and abruptly.

Overall 

  No spoilers here, of course, but unlike other shows of its kind, ending a big game with the highs and lows that come with it, Last Chance U: Basketball stops short. The sobering, sobering reality of what happened hits home and hits hard.

  Last Chance U: Basketball is a game of slam dunks on and off the court. It's an emotionally stirring, well-directed and incredibly insightful series and a must-watch.