‘Bel-Air’ Season 1, Episode 5 – ‘PA to LA’ Recap/Review: “Testing A Friendship”

WARNING: This review contains spoilers for the newest episode of Bel-Air, for last week’s review click here.

When good things happen for people, you should be happy. No matter how the situation affects you personally as long as it isn’t negative. The situations should be seen as achievements. Also, as a parent, you have a duty to put your child in the best situation possible. These are things we are dealing with in the newest episode of Peacock’s Bel-Air.

Last week, we saw the Banks family and Will (Jabari Banks) take to the streets to register voters. They were helping Phil (Adrian Holmes) with his campaign. Will and Carlton (Olly Sholotan) have their own agendas. Will and Aunt Viv (Cassandra Freeman) make a deal and she follows through. Tray comes to visit Will in Bel-Air.

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The boys are excited to see each other, and they bond at the beginning. Tray is thinking Will should move back to Philadelphia now that Rashad is dead. Will is contemplating staying in Bel-Air though, he has more opportunities there than in Philadelphia. He even asks his cousin Hilary (Coco Jones) if he should stay, and she says he should.

Tray isn’t used to this lifestyle, just as Will wasn’t originally. He ends up getting drunk and telling Carlton the real reason Will moved to Bel-Air causing Carlton to spiral even more. Carlton badgers his father about it and calls him a liar. He goes even farther and uses it as a way to get Will out of his way so he can try to get back with Lisa (Simone Joy Jones).

Vivian and Phil are both having to deal with their own lives. Vivian is trying to get back into her paintings. She meets with an art curator that has an entire area for her in his art museum. Phil is having trouble on his campaign trail as his speech about defunding the police is used in a campaign ad from one of his opponents.

Hilary is joining an ‘Influencer House’ and throws a dinner for her new housemates and her family. Her housemates Kylo (Jon Beavers), Chloe, Kendra and the prank brothers. Kylo secretly interviews Phil and Phil gives some information that helps his campaign. The prank brothers pull a prank that goes extremely left and leaves a sour taste in everybody’s mouth. Ashley (Akira Akbar) also comes out to Hilary and asks her about Lucia.

Hilary’s situation with the Influencer House is a great opportunity. She needs this to forge her own path and her family understanding that is great. Vivian and Viola respecting their children’s decision is something that’s important to this episode. It’s something that until recently wasn’t really a thing in our community, so to see it in Bel-Air is a good thing. Parents respecting their child’s decision is important.

Director Tasha Smith gets some incredible performances from Banks and Malbert. The duo plays a great friendship, and it hurts to see how it ends. Holmes does an amazing job as well with Freeman. Every scene with them is always amazing. Jones is continuing her great performance as Hilary, and Sholotan as Carlton is extremely phenomenal. The cast does an amazing job, and they help the show work with their performances.

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This is the best episode of the season by far. The performances just create an atmosphere that leaves you sad after. This is a drama that just keeps giving us reasons to tune in. We gain even more reasons to dislike Carlton and to sympathize with Will. It’s a lot to digest but every facet of the episode works well. – Rascal F. Kennedy

Rating: 9.5/10

New episodes of Bel-Air premiere Thursdays on Peacock!