This web series has now officially been renamed to “Baywatch on Land.”
Clunky soap opera Skinemax writing, inconsistent acting from interchangeable shirtless models and a fan base that will watch anything, earns it the new title.
Maybe I’ve been too hard on this show…the more black gay content, the better…right? I really wanted to drink the Jim Jones Kool-Aid, especially since the creator of the show said we were at least partially inspirational in its creation…but I just can’t.
I honestly don’t think so many people would watch this series if it were the same story only with heterosexual characters. Gays watch because its free, its gay, there are sex scenes and the models look good. When asked online, no fan has been able to explain what the show is about or what’s going on.
Just to be clear, I’ve never met ANY of the Freefall team. They have never wronged me or Cypher Avenue in any way. Nothing personal, I’m just critiquing the work. I never personally attack the people who make this show…just the story, characters and the art presented. I’m sure every one of them are really cool guys who are genuinely working really hard to make this crap.
So what’s wrong with the show:
1. The actors playing roles beyond their skill set
2. The depressing mood
3. The green/grey tint
4. The lack of any kind of dramatic conflict
5. Painfully SLOW pacing
6. No attempt at a 3-act scene or story structure
7. The lack of consistent character development
8. The convoluted plotting
9. Plot twists that are neither earned nor explained
10. The trading of gay stereotypes (promiscuous sex, clubbing) for black stereotypes (drug dealing, murder, robbing)
11. The implied notion that “masculine” characters need to be thugs
…the list goes on.
Too much critical burden to put on a no budget web series? Perhaps, dramas always get judged harsher than comedies. Am I ignoring the larger issues that the web series attempts to explore? Absolutely…I can barely follow the story let alone examine the societal sub-text.
Blame it on Patrick Murphy, Darius Clark Monroe, Deondray Gossett and Quincy LeNear who showed us in Animal Drill, Slow, The Chadwick Journals and Episode Thomas the amazing work that black gay filmmakers can pull off with very little money and resources.
Anyway, Cypher Avenue readers still send us the episodes and we still get page views for them so I keep posting the show (Ocky hates it when I do). But I can’t review them anymore, I just can’t. As much as you guys love to see me break the episodes down, I love my life too much and there are only so many ways to say the same thing.
If this were my show, what would I have done differently?
Take the same characters (with the same acting abilities) and just make it a lighter show about “real life.” Not a Gay Thugs Paradise.
Say Nico, Xavier and Cam are smart competitive roommates, fresh outta college (or not), who start a clothing line or even a party promoting business together in Atlanta. A legit business. Like The Social Network. But there are obstacles, conflicts and complications that come with being an entrepreneur in Atlanta. Money problems, Investor problems, relationship problems, internal business drama and conflict. External conflict from competing companies big & small. The pretty light skin dude, Mumbles and Tyson could even have been rivals who steal their idea/investor to start their own shit causing even more (BELIEVABLE) conflict. Even add some straight characters for more realism.
EVERY black gay 20-something year old is trying to start a business or wants to be an entrepreneur, so does every 20-something year old hetero…so MANY people could have related to that. It could have been the black gay “How to Make it in America” or “Entourage”. Something potentially simple, fun, relatable, sexy, dramatic, inspirational, tragic and realistic. Then you wouldn’t need to have these dudes butch-it-up to play murderers and drug dealers. And this is just off of the top of my head!
Instead, we get The Skinny meets Thug Bait porn.
Are we haters for being so hard on this show? Well, even with multiple failed fundraisers, I’m sure “Baywatch on Land” is still earning some duckets from AdSense and YouTube advertising on their views. So we’re actually helping them as much as any of their “fans” in some weird way.
I haven’t seen any of the recent episodes (I gave up) but I’m sure this one features the usual sex scenes, random & confusing plotting, depressing melodrama and questionable acting of clunky dialogue. Before long they’ll probably dive into a character being strung out on drugs or even getting into porn, prostitution or escorting.
From what I hear there are only two episodes left in the season (episodes 13 & 14) and the producers are screening them at a theater here in Atlanta during Black Gay Pride. As bad as the show has been, I will admit that their marketing photos and presentation have been pretty solid…And for the average web series, they have a pretty decent core following, especially for a gay series. So this idea to get so many of the Stans in one place is actually a good look. They are probably still shooting and editing the episodes even as I type this since episode 12 is just now dropping. God bless ’em.
Ocky has said in the past that these web series actors and filmmakers primarily just want to be “Gay Famous”…Looks like the “Baywatch on Land” team is well on their way to achieving that.
Anyway, here’s the 12th episode of the show (see episodes 1-11 HERE):
Oops! Dammit! Sorry, that was an honest mistake. The clips looked exactly the same, yo. Here’s the actual episode:
Nick Delmacy
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I guess the privilege of being on the west coast is that I get to comment on all the twilight hour posts first. I’m not going to disagree with anything you said. HOWEVER, I will say that I do think people perpetuate thug with masculine all the time, even this site to a degree. I mean Kaldrick King wasn’t exactly a scholar and Tariq wasn’t exactly a lady but you guys were all over Kaldrick.
and the Green Tint wasn’t in the last episode and X is still super hot when he’s not speaking.
Not to veer off topic (u alrdy kno wasup when someone leads w that, lol) but…
While Kaldrick King wasnt a scholar, he WAS a dude from ‘down the block’ who just happened to be gay. I didn’t see him as a thug, he was just a dude who lashed out in anger when he couldnt deal w the fact that he had feelings n sht, lol. Clearly, another EXTREMELY flawed dude, but not a thug. I think Kaldrick resonated w a lot of ppl becus he showed a blk gay man who happened to not be feminine at all, because, like i’ve said before, just like we’re always up in arms about black ppl not being a monolith, it’s the same deal w the gay segment of that same community.
BTW, be sure thats nuthin against fem guys at all, its just that masc gay men who are just like our cousins or uncles, outside of the bedroom, do exist. Just sayin..
Kal not a thug? huh? Wasn’t that the whole point of him being a gangsta rapper lol. He was most certainly a thug, a violent one at that. The show went deeper into the whys and hows, but you can’t avoid the facts. And my point it Tariq wasn’t exactly walking around with a murse and a lisp. He was also for all intents and purposes “masculine” but everyone was fiaxted on Kal who was uber-masculine. I only brought up that point because @nick seemed to be lamenting equating thug with masculine…but everyone seems to do that to a degree. It’s still a lame cliche, but it’s a universal one. And Kaldrick King resonated with a lot of people because he was hot lol.
Valid points @sb3000 But I would argue that Kaldrick definitely fit the angry black man stereotype. I made this criticism when I originally reviewed the show. That show was problematic. I think we appreciated the character for the reasons you stated. It was the first time in YEARS that we saw a non-effeminate black gay character. As for Tariq, he was barely on the show in its two year run (25% of the total episodes) so of course our focus went to Kaldrick.
@nick @hannibal
‘I didn’t see him as a thug, he was just a dude who lashed out in anger when he couldnt deal w the fact that he had feelings n sht, lol.’
I clearly flat lined while attempting to make a joke, but I was implying that he was an angry black man, who preferred to act like feelings and words n sht were for girls. But I still cant cosign him as a thug. He was a rapper, with a persona, and a lot of anger, but real thugs dont have time to be in the studio putting the final touches on a track. Thugs, are out here killing folks up, w no back story, a la, Freefall…
And Tariq wasn’t a fem dude either, he just, didnt, umm…’resonate’ as well lol
Tariq wasn’t feminine by extreme terms but he was admittedly kinda “soft.” WHICH IS TOTALLY FINE! lol Its not a big deal, I just don’t think Tariq repped guys like me.
Anyway, You may not have seen Kaldrick as a “thug” but the character was clearly supposed to outwardly represent one. A down low thug rapper. He dressed, acted and surrounded himself with those types. He was supposed to be a gangster rapper modeled after guys like Future, Ace Hood, Meek Mill, Rick Ross, etc. Remember, initially he was only sensitive in private, hard in public. This is why he had to beat the shit out of Tariq when they got caught, to maintain the hetero thug rep.
Word on the street was that he was modeled after 50 Cent. The producer said every character was based on a true person that he met along his way to becoming a producer. interesting…but yeah, Kal was definitely a “homo-thug.” And Tariq was just an average dude. Not uber masculine and not ultra feminine. My only point is that you critiqued Freefall for perpetuating thug=masculine, yet it seemed to be virtually celebrated in Kaldrick King. There’s been other examples of masculine gay black men like the cop in 6 Feet Under, but he wasn’t a thug and no one mentions him. Yet Kaldrick King and Omar from The Wire are always brought up as masculine black gays…and they were both thugs.
Once again, you’re focusing on your trigger word “masculine” (a word only used ONE TIME in this entire article) and focusing on one character out of many that we’ve discussed on this website. Hell, I didn’t even use Kaldrick King or LA Complex as an example of a better short film or character than Freefall in the article. You pulled that rabbit out of your hat, lol. We’ve discussed many other masculine gay characters and we rarely celebrate “thugs” on this site, sir. Do a Cypher Avenue search for “Omar” from the Wire and you’ll find ZERO results, yo. Don’t know why I bother defending us from your blind, baseless accusations all the time, lol
I was also only focusing on one part of your critique that I felt was a little unfair. And I never said Cypher Avenue ONLY lauded the thug image and I never said Cypher Avenue talked about Omar. I was making a general statement about gay men in general who seem to get fixated on the thug image. I think it’s a bit unfair to pinpoint FreeFall equating thug with masculine when in general that’s what gay filmmakers tend to do. DL Chronicles, BBOY Blues, The Wire, LA Complex, and on and on and on do have done it. And you’re not defending anything because I didn’t attack the site. You’re way too defensive *hands @nick a Xanax* Here, this will help.
No doubt man. I’m cool, its just a discussion. But re-read your comments. You did say this site celebrated the thug aspect of Kaldrick King a couple times. I specifically said that was my problem with the character in the past.
As for Freefall, saying “all gay filmmakers do it” doesn’t change the fact that it shouldn’t be done and is a problem on this show.
No no, I said the site celebrated Kaldrick King…who was a thug. You can’t pin me down. I’m too good.
@nick @hannibal
-U know what, yall win this 1. Its just that I had such a hard time imagining Kaldrick kicking my ass…but I was thinking too hard, lol. He was absolutely intended to represent a ‘homo-thug’.
-I didnt even see Tariq as soft in his masculinity, as much as I just saw him as a soft dude in general. Like 1 of those ‘nerdy’ kids who grow up to be the biggest hip hop producers, lol.
-Dude from 6 feet under was the truth. Probably the best ‘rep’ Ive seen in media, and my earliest memory.
Yeah Matthew St Patrick was dope in that role. Wait until you see Episode Thomas, really good everyday masculine gay characters there as well.
Will I ever see Episode Thomas? I’m not even trying to get the bootleg, I’m trying to pay those dedicated young bros!!
And I’m over one word titles. As shallow as it sounds, if you can’t put any effort into the title I’m bothered.
@Nick, DITTO DITTO DITTO To the 10th POWER!
Everything you said is ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY, UNEQUIVOCALLY CLEAR AND TRUE! And I was one of the ones rooting for FREEFALL for a long time since the original run when it was just the 3 dudes-despite the lack thereof, but they’ve made it so hard!
I think even if they had a $25million budget it still wouldn’t matter because of list 1-11 aforementioned in your review! there’s just no hope! And as far as the idea of the “Heteros playing Gay roles in general speaking, there are just as many of TERRIBLE Hetero actors as there are Gay counterparts and its probably more but I digress-lol!
The overall point is, These writers and producers who I believe have great potential/talent, good intentions, yet lack somewhat vision, need to dig a little more deeper in searching for some solid actors when producing these types of shows( Theres so many actors looking to break that aren’t well known-but GOOD that they can use)… More so, because anything LGBTQ is already a shunned/taboo subject in America anyway when it comes to entertainment! They need to give it its due like the other counterparts do (Quincy LeNear and Deondray Gossett).
Both Geno Brooks and Lamont Pierre have written some great stuff, I love Geno Brooks THERAPIST series and I really wanna see Lamont’s film TALKING WITH THE TAX-MAN ABOUT POETRY! I loved MY BROTHERS KEEPER!
So… with better actors, budget, lightening up the story will perhaps save this show!
For the record…
Be it thug, masc, effeminate, or androgyny for the matter, GOOD ACTING is GOOD ACTING! If the characters pull you into their stories and make you forget its entertainment…then, that’s GOOD ACTING!!!
If I wanna see or watch someone act in the nude, I’ll go to Myvister/Xtube or ebonyxxx! LOL!!!
I think everyone is in agreement that the acting on the show is bad. However, I will say that I cannot tell at all times if it is the acting, the writing, or the direction that makes the actors look bad. Not excusing the actors…but some of the lines are ATROCIOUS and not anything that any real person would say. What’s worse is that it took 3 people to write this. 3 People couldn’t read some of this and say “no, that doesn’t sound good?” Now that I’m thinking about it, I dont think the actors are given a chance to act. So many black gay filmmakers seem to think having the characters say a lot of things makes what they say sound nice. I had some issues with the film SLOW, but so much was gleamed when the actors weren’t speaking. We don’t get that here.
I saw a couple episodes of The Therapist and I’m getting kind of tired of their whole style to be honest. Too many characters, too many unrelated storylines, too slow, too convoluted. I’ll give them that the production quality has stepped up a lot compared to many other web series, but what good is being able to see and hear the show when you’re bored to death? Just my opinion.
“I’m sure every one of them are really cool guys who are genuinely working really hard to make this crap.”
See…
I swear, this article reminded of that scene in ‘Dont be a Menace’ where Bernie Mac is talkin about how much he hates everything Black!
LOLOL
Seriously tho, can’t nobody EVER tell you that you don’t support ur argument man!
In conclusion…ditto!
Ok being one of the ones that watch, like, and support Freefall I like the attempt of the web series. The creator of the show is trying to step out of the box and do something different … yes, the few sex scenes are there but with anything in today’s society SEX SELLS. Now I must admit this episode was hard for me to watch, but I believe once this is all done, the series will learn from its mistakes and get better.
Yeah, that’s cool. I’m not trying to convince anyone to not like the show if they already do. Just giving my person take. Sex scenes are not my issue, its just the randomness of them from the very first episode. They try to act like the first 4 episodes never existed but those set the tone and ruined the show for a lot of people. I know more than a few guys who refuse to watch anything past the first episode way back with Trent. LOL.
Yep! it sure did ruin it for a lot of us who saw the original version!
Nick’s right, there’s too much monotony and stereotypical tone with the show. But I still think Lamont Pierre is a talented writer/producer that does some cool work overall!
Sidenote…the Clockwork Orange picture is possibly the funniest thing I’ve seen all week. I fell out.
I don’t see the monotony or stereotypical images in this show, as I see in other web series (even thoses that I feel are written or produced a little better)
I just actually watched the entire episode and can now pinpoint what bothers me about the writing. I’m not going to get into stereotypes and stuff…but the writers have written words into these characters mouths that they just simply wouldn’t use. When the very short hitman sits down next to Nico at a bar and says “why are you looking so melancholy?” my eyes rolled out of my head. And that happens throughout the entire series. I understand writers wanting to use clever and creative dialogue, but it has to be character appropriate.
Melancholy?! Sigh…Yeah thats like the last episode I saw where Mumbles said “Ergo”. Just unnecessary. On “The Wire” the drug dealing characters would use big unexpected words occasionally but the difference there is the actors could actually pull them off and make it sound believable.
Ergo actually didn’t bother me. I thought it was intentionally tongue and cheek. Now I’m thinking not so much. And in this episode Nico says “Fuck that pious bullshit!”…Pious? Really? Is this what all the criminals are using now? Now I kind of want to go back and rewatch them all to see how bad of a pattern this is. Maybe after rewatching the show in totality I’ll be able to figure out what it’s about.
LOL @ Pious. Its like they write the scripts in front of a “word of the day” calendar. “ergo” was used twice actually, the first time was by the older black mob boss dude in the episode where they were beating some random dude to death with a hammer out in public. I let the first one go, but I HAD to mention the second time in my review.
I tuned out that entire scene with the old man and the hammer because it was so obnoxious. That’s why I don’t entirely fault the actors. I think the writing is the problem. And how does it take 3 people to write each of these episodes? Nico is the only one that seems to know what the words he’s using mean which I find amusing. oh well. *goes to watch X’s scenes on mute*
Honestly speaking i tune in every week completely aware of the disheveled plot line,the inconsistency in the character development the slow story progression & the idea that in order to be masculine & gay you have to be hide behind the persona of a “Thug”.all of those factors i’m completely aware of.but the reason i tune in every weak is for the support.
I watch it just for the content creators to know that there is an audience out there thirsty for new projects centered around black gay life outside of the same stale plot lines (usually involving drugs,partying,promiscuity etc etc )and that we do exist. even if the content isn’t exactly grade A+ at least they will know that people like me will watch if they have new content.
Question: Why is it that even when there’s a platform (Youtube , Vimeo etc) that has the open freedom to explore themes outside of the confines of typical portrayals commonly explored by the mainstream were still stuck with the same washed up plots?
That’s a very good question. I wish I knew that answer. I don’t want to say that’s its a lack of creativity, but its leaning in that direction. Even though these same writers watch network TV and go to the theater to see examples outside of the box, they STILL recycle the same plots. In our interview with them, the creators of The DL Chronicles suggested that it may be these content creators just re-create what they know or think they know. If Ocky & I did a web series it would be unlike any other and non-stereotypical. But our time is already full doing this website, also we don’t wanna be “gay famous” lol
Have you ever thought about producing a project that you like? Or maybe hosting a show you like on your youtube channel?
Yeah I dunno…LOL. Maybe one day down the line. We can only do so much. This website is our contribution to the pot for now.
@Nick Delmacy
I am like you…why watch it? same shit different day- it starts from the screen play- its BAD, period and the story is bigger than the budget so they plod along. You are also correct- those gay young’ones, they will watch anything – the guys are pleasing to the eyes and its purely a sexual fantasy…nothing else- they will forget the core value of the episode and remember Xavier’s ass in a scene. Yup A-plus for marketing but then again it doesn’t take much to market sex- just show some ass.
Right! Yeah I have NOTHING against these guys looking good. I like looking at attractive men in movies just as much as the next gay guy. HOWEVER, they have to be able to act and they have to be able to fit their roles. Neither applies here. I kinda wish I liked this series just so I could be a cheerleader like many other black gays. But unfortunately I can see through the Matrix.
I just want the show to get better plain and simple. I watch it because one day I feel it will truly give me a surprise. *Sigh* but until then I’ll just read my books and wait until @nick post something positive about it.
Yeah I was hoping it would get better too. Unfortunately its getting worse, so I gave up. I still think its the 3rd best black gay web series ever made. And I don’t even like it. What that tells you is I don’t think many of these gay web series are very good at all. Especially when you compare them to the non-gay series out there.
First off, I’m a fan of the FreeFall series but I can admit, there are times when most of the scenes are hard to watch due to the acting not being of quality. Production wise, they’re doing a great job in my opinion but I do think the actors really need more training as it sometimes seems like they’re literally reading off of a piece of paper. There is potential for this show to be more successful but I do think some things need to be addressed so it can happen. Critiquing this episode, I have to give it an honest C-/D+ because there was no build up leading to when & where Cameron was kidnapped by the two guys (one of the main plots of the show). I appreciate all the hard work being put into this effort but more work needs to be done.
It seems to be the fans of the show seem to be saying they like the idea but aren’t thrilled with the execution.
It seems to be the fans of the show seem to be saying they don’t actually like the show but they keep watching anyway.
…that’s essentially what I was trying tk say but in a kinder gentler way.
Well, this is always my approach when it comes to art criticism:
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If FREEFALL was good, I would be the first one to say it. I would. I WANT to support a black gay created show like I did for LA Complex. A kidnapping in this episode?! Really?! Next we’ll have a character get amnesia! This show is a bad soap opera with even worse writing & acting.
I just realized that I was giving Lamont Pierre so much credit as a filmmaker, but he’s put out 12 straight short films now that prove he’s not that good of a storyteller at all. Viewers should not be confused this late into your series. If this web series was about heterosexuals, would anyone still be discussing this show?
Most telling: The fact that they have 8,000 YouTube subscribers yet still haven’t been able to raise more than $4,500 total in their multiple 4 month long fundraisers speaks volumes about how their “fans” really feel about this show. I once raised over $10k with no subscribers or fans in less than 30 days on Kickstarter, just a good pitch and my hustle.
Well, after all the hard criticism, debating, and commenting, looks as if it won’t matter whether you like or dislike FREEFALL because in order to see the last episodes you’re gonna have to Donate! hmmm…(shouldn’t this had been done-like in the beginning in order to secure better production???)…
Personally, I think its a little too late for that! LOL! Its crazy, but again, I too were rooting and cheering on in hopes that FREEFALL would redeem itself from destruction but I guess not.
I hope they possibly get it together.
I mean, they halfway to their Go-Fund me goal. Is you gonna support? Is this latest fundraising for the second season?
As long as they have the same writers, actors and director, the show won’t get any better. They’ve had 12 chances so far. At some point we have to face facts.
As for making ppl pay to see the show, they should have done this a long time ago.
Again, I hope they reach their goal. Even though their fundraiser is not like Kickstarter and they get to actually keep all that they raise. It would still be an ego bruise if they don’t reach the goal of $10k that they had 4 months to raise. Especially with the views and subscribers they have.
Worst case scenario, they can borrow the remaining money from someone to make it appear as if they raised the money, then give it right back after the deadline. LOL.
Nick you have a way with words, your reviews are killing me LOL! I know you’re just being honest. Keep them coming though. The site wouldn’t be the same without them.
LOL yeah I’ll keep reviewing movies and web series, but I just got tired of Freefall. LOL.
I just have to say that I love your reworking of Freefall, @nick.
I would surely watch that. I loved How To Make It In America, and I was pissed that it was cancelled. A story of young entrepreneurs, who happen to be black and gay and hustling through their hardships to be great would have had my attention and kept me glued to every episode; as long as the acting and production quality was at least decent, even if not the highest quality.
Season one was it for me. The old man was gavitate my interests. When he was given the back seat treatment, my interests was lost. The detective never really draw me in. TY’s role has been deminished to getting a G.E.D. I hope this series end soon so I can purchased the DVD’s at a discount.