Season 5 of Netflix’s “The Upshaws” has arrived, welcoming back the patriarch, Bennie Upshaw (played by Mike Epps), and his family as they navigate life in the Hoosier state. The series continues to follow the lives of a Black working-class family living in Indianapolis. Bennie is a charming and well-intentioned mechanic who wants to provide for his family. Still, his tendency to overthink the simplest of situations and chaos often leads to humorous situations. The Upshaw family includes Bennie’s wife Regina (played by Kim Fields), their two young daughters Aaliyah (portrayed by Khali Daniya-Renee Spraggins) and Maya (played by Journey Christine), and their firstborn son Bernard (played by Jermelle Simon). Also living with them is Kelvin (Diamond Lyons), Bennie’s son, from another woman (Gabrielle Dennis).
Regina’s sister Lucretia (Wanda Sykes) was in dire financial straits when we last the family. The newest season finds Lucretia moving in with the family, Aaliyah getting a boyfriend, and Bernard starting his own business. While Kim Fields is usually this show’s MVP, the writers give Lucretia a strong storyline this season. Credit to the writers and Sykes for showing how one minute you can be on top and, in an instant, lose everything. I appreciated that they didn’t rely on jokes about Lucretia’s lost wealth and actually showed her trying to work her way back up. A great recurring bit about Bernard and the soft openings for his business went over very well.
While his last stand-up special wasn’t my cup of tea, Epps continues to win me over as Bennie. Epps’s timing is sharp, and there are even a few moments when he taps into his dramatic skills. Kim Fields also has some good moments, particularly in one episode where she reunites with an old high school rival. While, the young actors who play Bennie’s children deliver great on-screen moments while avoiding the cliché of portraying the kids as more intelligent than their parents. The characters embrace their youth and are growing up on the show, which I like.
I’ve had issues with the show’s use of a laugh track in the past, but I wasn’t that distracted by it this season. Finally, the season does end on a cliffhanger, and I look forward to where they will take the show next season.
Final Grade: B
“The Upshaws Season 5“ is streaming on Netflix now.
After exploring the realms of superhero and romantic comedy, Sydney Sweeney, the versatile actress, adds another feather to her cap with the visually stunning and uniquely captivating film ‘Immaculate ‘.
In his highly anticipated fourth film as director, the renowned Alex Garland unveils a captivating journey across a dystopian future America in “Civil War.” As the mastermind behind the film’s script, Garland takes us on a thrilling ride alongside a team of military-embedded journalists. They are racing against time to reach DC before rebel factions descend upon the White House.
Andrew McCarthy, a former ‘Brat Pack’ actor who spent a decade honing his directorial talents in episodic television, now brings his unique perspective to features in the appropriately titled ‘Brats’ from Hulu. The term ‘Brat Pack’ was a standard reference among young movie enthusiasts in the 1980s, first coined by writer David Blum after witnessing a group of young actors being overwhelmed by admirers at the Hard Rock Cafe in Los Angeles. The core members of the Brat Pack were often recognized for their appearances in the ensemble casts of two specific films released in 1985: John Hughes’s ‘The Breakfast Club’ and Joel Schumacher’s ‘St. Elmo’s Fire ‘.