The first episode starts with Meek Mill’s “Dreams and Nightmares,” and tells the story of how Will got caught up and his life turned upside down. Will, in this episode, is sent to Bel-Air, and while this is a decent series opening episode, every episode after is better. In this episode we see Will and Carlton try to come together to get Uncle Phil 50 signatures for his political campaign. Later, they throw a private party for Uncle Phil that turns public. When I made this list, I thought this episode would be higher, but over time, this is seen to me as a good episode that shows Will figure out more about why he’s in Bel-Air and not Philly. In this episode, Will throws Carlton a party to cheer him up. Also, Viv realizes Uncle Phil took money out of their account and then goes to see Reed at an art show in San Diego to get away. Uncle Phil pops up to catch her in San Diego, and Will makes a move we’ll never forget. This episode was cool, but really just a good filler episode. This episode consists of Will’s best friend from Philly, Tray, coming into town while Uncle Phil runs into the campaign issue of being seen as too “far left.“Will considers staying in LA even though his mom doesn’t think he should, and overall, this episode is so drama driven and where the season started to pick up for me. Carlton loses his ex-girl to Will and all hell breaks loose. We see some good things in this episode such as Will and Jazz forming a bond and Hilary sticking up for herself. It’s a great episode that makes you want to stick around for the remainder of the series. Lisa’s father, Fred, decides to run against Uncle Phil for DA, and Fred’s new woman revealed (unknowingly) to Will that she was having an affair with Lisa’s father while Lisa’s mom was still alive. Also, Will handles his feelings about the Tray situation and his and Lisa’s relationship. This episode has a ton of action and is vital for the climax soon to come. In this episode, we see Will’s mom return. We also see Geoffrey and Uncle Phil’s relationship possibly come to an end. I appreciate how this series reimagines iconic storylines from the original and brings new life to them. This episode is a perfect example of that. Shoutout to my fellow ‘06ers! Will and Carlton go with Uncle Phil to get support from his fraternity, the Alphas, in this episode. While there, we truly realize how everyone loves Will. That’s the main theme as we see the family all attending Will’s basketball game while Carlton’s game is empty — which leads to an eventual breakdown. Matthew A. Cherry directed this episode of Bel-Air and brought out some of the best performances of the series. At the end, Phil abruptly withdraws from the race to tell Vivian she can take the Fellowship. I believe that’s the most surprising and beautiful scene of the series. His choosing his family is the stand-up thing to do. This episode is coming off the best cliffhanger of the season and it delivered. Will’s dad makes an appearance after the build-up, and his arrival and eventual meeting with Will, is the best scene to come from this series.
