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Overview
The first female major league baseball player of modern times. It hasn't happened yet, but even the what if and how is an appealing question. Especially with this likely being the year the United States will get their first female president. Thus breaking one glass ceiling. However, while the show is heavily focused on Ginny becoming, alongside Jackie Robinson, someone who changed MLB forever, it is also very much about the relationship between a daughter and her father. The one who planted the seed and, arguably, made all this possible.
Main Storyline
Originally Bill (Michael Beach) was trying to get his son to follow in his footsteps and pursue a baseball career. However, his son didn't have the fortitude and determination but Ginny (Kylie Bunbury) did. So, since she was barely out of diapers till now, he trained her. Dammit, he was the Joe Jackson to her Michael. For while he didn't abuse her, her brother did sometimes suffer to get her to focus.
Thanks to that, at the age of 23, she makes it to the major leagues. A place where she has the weight of the future of women in the sport on her shoulders. Making every ball and walk she does devastating, yet every strike a triumph. All the while, she just goes through what her father instilled and her and constantly reminded her: She ain't nowhere near done yet.
Highlights
Being that I'm not an MLB fan, a lot of my focus was more so about Ginny's relationships than her pitching technique. Of which, I have to admit between her relationship with Bill and her big brother figure Blip (Mo McRae) it is hard to not love seeing Black men so supportive of a Black girl. And I know, no one wants anything to be made into a race thing, but to see Blip stick up for her and her father try to figure out ways to compensate for what some may consider sexist beliefs, by the end of the episode it got me teary eyed.
Though it isn't just her relationships but Ginny herself. Bunbury is a familiar actress to me through her work with Avan Jogia. But in those roles, she was always the love interest. Someone notable enough to make me curious about this show, but she never got to fully stand on her own. With this show, though, whether it flops or becomes a hit, I do think it proves that she can become an up and coming superstar. The determination she brings to Ginny's presence, the somber sorrow when we begin to see her question her place in the majors, and the realization she sacrificed her youth for this dream, that maybe what drives those without a lick of interest in the baseball part to keep watching.
Especially considering the way the locker room is. As can be expected from a multi-billion dollar industry, there is politics. Between the players and management, you see a whole lot of people Ginny has to not only win over but stay in the good graces of. But between one character named Tommy (Ryan Dorsey) who Ginny seemingly replaced, to the nameless men who surely will become vocal as time goes on, expect sexism, maybe even a touch of racism, to rear its ugly head. Though, considering how Ginny isn't the type to back down from a challenge, even if it is a verbal dispute, things should be interesting.
On The Fence
What's going to be hard for this show is trying to balance Ginny's career, her personal life, and all the drama of the people around her. Already we have issues dealing with whether the club's manager Al (Dan Lauria) can control his team while integrating Ginny. Also, there is Ginny's manager Amelia (Ali Larter) catching the eye of one of the decision makers for the San Diego Padres who wants to date or have sex with her, and all the while you know eventually Ginny, likely due to Blip's wife Evelyn (Meagan Holder), is going to learn what it means to be a woman, especially a young and successful one. Which, altogether, I think unless it is done well, those factors, among many others, will eventually alienate initial fans and those who were curious. After all, this isn't FreeForm but Fox. All that drama isn't going to help the show's gimmick survive season in and season out. For while historical fiction maybe cool, it's better for mini-series than a show expected to likely meet a full season order with competitive ratings.
score 7/10
Amari-Sali 23 September 2016
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3549623/ |
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13-12-2020 12:05:26