The Crossover Season 1 Review – A decent enough coming of age drama

Episode Guide

X’s & O’s
The Cold Streak
One on One
Time Out
Huddle Up
Full Court Press
Clutch
Rebound

Based on the novel sporting the same name, The Crossover is a basketball drama, centering on the Bell family and their issues both on and off the court. Although the focus is mostly on the kids, we also see their parents, Crystal and Chuck’s, personal issues too, adding an extra layer to this story.

The plot initially gravitates toward Josh “Filthy” and Jordan “JB” as they work through school, aspiring to do right by their family, career and future. With Josh and JB both seemingly moving in opposite directions, the pair find themselves at odds over the part that basketball plays in their life.

JB also suffers from ADHD too, and between that and potential love interest Alexis, his passions seem to lie off the court. As for Josh, he’s all in on the basketball, and he manages to juggle that quite well with his schoolwork… for a bit anyway.

As the series progresses, a whole bunch of different issues crop up, ranging from a losing streak on the court, to an altercation at a roller disco that challenges Josh like never before. There are light love triangles, plenty of teen angst and lots of drama along the way.

Outside of that, we also see subplots for Crystal and Chuck. Crystal gets a job as the Principal at the boys’ school, while Chuck ends up having health issues that escalate progressively across the 8 episodes.

The format of The Crossover strangely undermines its dramatic tension though. Throughout the series we jump forward to 2030 where we see all of our characters and what they’re up to. The problem is, we know that Chuck is okay and wheelchair-bound, seen as early as episode 1. But yet, throughout the series – and especially in the last few episodes – there’s a massive deal made of Chuck’s “life or death” situation but we know he survives.

The same can be said for both boys too, whom we know will be okay and roughly know the trajectory of their life from those aforementioned flashes too. Personally, the drama would have felt so much more authentic and raw had these segments been taken out until right at the end of the final episode, or at least been used to accentuate the drama in the past.

Beyond this, the show is a decent enough watch although it doesn’t really stand out next to other sport dramas in this field. The first episode is full of exposition and a bit clunky, although to be fair the rest of the chapters do iron out these issues a bit.

There’s a nice visual flair in this though, with The Crossover using bites of expository text, scribbles and a whole bunch of dictionary definition words flashing across the screen. This helps give the series a distinct flavour, while the hip-hop infused soundtrack is pretty good too.

All things considered, The Crossover is a decent watch even if it doesn’t stand out next to other dramas in this field. There’s plenty of issues to sink your teeth into both on and off the court, and although these issues are generally quite simple and surface level, there’s enough here to enjoy all the same.

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