Bel-Air: Season 4 Episode 1 – Recap and Review

What happened to Will? How do people handle Vivian’s big secret, and for Hillary? How does she navigate what happened in the season 3 finale?

ByAmari Allah Hours Posted on

Spoiler Alert: This summary and review contains spoilers.

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Episode 1 “The Maybes” Recap and Details

New Faces & Old Flames: Will, Lisa, Carlton, Amira, Marisa, Ashley, Eli

With Ashley in high school now, the teens of the cast are all at Bel Air Academy, but while Ashley and boyfriend Eli are freshmen, Will, Carlton, and Lisa are seniors, and at first, it seems like a victory lap. Blackccess is doing well and is one of the hottest brands at the academy. Lisa and Will are together, Carlton is dating a cheerleader named Marisa, but then Amira shows up.

On top of that, Amira shows up without any shame about what she went through, and this makes Carlton embarrassed to be associated with her. But not so embarrassed that he’ll say anything to anyone about it but Will and Lisa.

Volunteering Time & Information: Ashley, Vivian, Phil, Carlton, Hillary, Will

Hillary, in honor of LaMarcus, is going to any and every event she can where someone would like to pay respects. This is her version of trying to help others get closure, even though she is struggling to do so herself. But, as she struggles with mourning LaMarcus, Vivian is struggling with mourning what was soon to be a child-free household.

Aunt Viv seeing what she would look like pregnant – Bel Air Season 4 Episode 1 – Peacock

Initially, she was going to keep being pregnant to herself or amongst a select group. However, you know Ashley doesn’t like secrets, so when she sees pregnancy tests in Vivian’s bathroom, she gives her a day, at most, to spill her tea, and when Vivian reveals she is doing the portrait for a congresswoman, a soror, over the baby? Ashley decides it is a good time to force Vivian to confirm she is pregnant and throw Phil for a loop.

The Challenge Of Moving Past This: Will, Carlton, Hillary, Jazz, Geoffrey, Phil

So, the big question might be, how in the heck is Will walking around after how the last season ended with him being kidnapped? Well, Geoffrey got to Will before anything notable could happen. Now, yes, they injured Geoffrey and forced him back into “The Organization,” but for Will? He has serious PTSD, but seemingly won’t be touched.

However, he is unable to move on. Yes, Phil was trying to use his network to help, but you know, Will has the patience of a fruit fly. So he does his investigation, with Jazz’s help, and they find out where the kidnapper lives. Carlton, feeling left out, helps Will destroy the van, but seemingly not purely for solidarity.

One of the major things in this episode, and might be the focus of the season, is what is the next chapter for everyone? Note, this is the final season, so we won’t join them on their journey through college and the rest of their life, but it’s clear Carlton, while gung-ho on Princeton, may not be wanted by Princeton. He looks good on paper, but him hiding his truth makes him seem average amongst the elite. So, he exposes his story, borrows Amira’s, and it leads to the question of whether he helped himself or hurt himself.

The same goes for Hillary. Is doing all these tributes helping? In conversation with Will, as they both ponder over what they could have done differently in the past few months, it seems Hillary just wants quiet, some isolation, and to mourn. She especially doesn’t want to see Jazz whatsoever.

But, as they pick apart their decisions, Geoffrey appears and asks Phil to make a decision to help him by laundering money for The Organization. Which, as much as Legacy Heights is a big project that could do that, Phil is keeping his partners from doing backroom deals and raising the profile of Legacy Heights to get an anchor business, like Whole Foods, Target, amongst others. So, while Geoffrey comes asking for help or a favor, it isn’t clear if Phil might be willing to give it.

New Characters in Episode 1

Marisa (Layla Crawford)

Marisa (Layla Crawford) asks Carlton if he saved any merch for her – Bel Air Season 4 Episode 1 – Peacock (200)
  • Check out other productions we’ve covered starring this actor: [Link to Actor’s Tag]
  • Character Summary: Marisa is Carlton’s girlfriend, a cheerleader, who takes note of Amira’s close relationship with Carlton.

Review and Commentary

Highlights

The Line Always Being Pushed Back [86/100]

Carlton remains the character with the most interesting storyline as he faces the potential of all his worries about not being perfect being just what Princeton wanted. From what it seems, the recruiter, while impressed with the paperwork, thought Carlton lacked grit, perseverance, and it’s easy to understand why. If you met kids who were rich all the time, parents paid for everything from the best school, clothes, and more, what do they bring but their sense of entitlement?

Thus, the line gets pushed back for Carlton, who doesn’t have a safety or secondary school – it has all been about Princeton, and with a real sign that, out of his control, this may not be an option? It seems he isn’t all the way at the point of throwing all his progress away, but maybe having to recalibrate. Which is going to be interesting to see, especially as this may also mean him doing so in his romantic life as he navigates someone who knows him at his worst, in Amira, and at his best, in Marissa.

Carlton and Will’s Version Of The Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Scene From Bad Boys 2 [82/100]

Another highlight, which includes Carlton, is when he and Will decided to get in Eli’s face and do their version of the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang scene from Bad Boys 2. Was it as funny? No. However, it was a cute nod, and while Eli has nothing on Reggie, you never know what the future may hold.

On The Fence

Hillary’s Grief [72/100]

Hillary sharing her grief with Will – Bel Air Season 4 Episode 1 – Peacock

I think the problem for me is that, after the time between the end of season 3 and the start of season 4, I not only forgot about LaMarcus, but also don’t have strong feelings about his death. To me, LaMarcus was just the dude who got in the way of Jazz and Hillary being together, and even if that never happens in Bel Air, LaMarcus will forever feel like a footnote. So, Hillary grieving, as much as it got enhanced by Will’s shared grief of what they could have done to prevent what happened, it falls flat.

Will’s Freedom and Geoffrey’s New Journey [74/100]

Considering how major the whole kidnapping plot seemed capable of, Will getting to run away while Geoffrey basically got jumped back into the gang, it left me frustrated. Yes, the PTSD of leaving Geoffrey behind, or not helping him, does compound with what Will is likely dealing with after having to leave Tray behind. So, the guilt of being the one who escaped a bad situation, physically with minimal damage, and being relatively safe, we get the weight of that.

However, it was, and the whole “The Organization” thing, perhaps the Jump The Shark moment for Bel Air. Which isn’t helped by Geoffrey’s return, now as an active member again, and him asking Phil to wash money and just present the idea this storyline, which feels out of step with the rest of the show, is going to continue.

Vivian’s Future [71/100]

I feel so torn speaking negatively about Vivian but, as said since Bel Air started, she doesn’t really compete to be the best Aunt Viv. She is more in line with light-skinned Aunt Viv. So as much as her being a woman of a certain age and pregnant, pressured to do a portrait for someone she doesn’t like, could be made interesting, it isn’t.

This isn’t like The Ms. Pat Show, where the possibility of Vivian having an abortion, due to how much a baby would negatively impact her life, seems possible. Then, as much as I appreciate how much this show presents the idea that Vivian has real-deal friends, and isn’t in a bubble where she only talks to her husband, I couldn’t care less about her sorority melodrama, and I can’t say the show ever made much of an effort to make it matter.

So my hope is, rather than stay the course, they add some depth and complication to Aunt Viv for the final season so this one doesn’t end up yet another in Janet Hubert’s shadow, but rather a valued alternative.

Overall

Our Overall Rating [77/100]

With Peacock trying to dump the entire season as fast as possible, but for some reason not just making it a binge watch (likely for contractual reasons), Bel Air feels rushed even if the season just started. But Carlton continues to be a silver lining and, best of all, a consistent hook. We can only hope the rest of the characters make it so that, when people look back on this show, it doesn’t feel like a fanfic that somehow went viral and got more time, money, and effort than it deserved.

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Amari is the founder and head writer of Wherever-I-Look.com and has been writing reviews since 2010, with a focus on dramas and comedies.