Young Rock 1x02 "On the Road Again" Recap and Review


 
    Last week I reviewed the pilot episode of Young Rock which showed a lot of promise for the comedy and based off the second installment of this series this is just the beginning of a long fun ride. This episode picks up again in an alternate future where Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson is running for President of the United States and his old high school’s library has been renamed after him, the Principal claiming, “they always knew he was destined for greatness”, which we learn as we cut to the Rock himself is a total lie. The Rock continues his series of interviews with the eccentric Randall Park this time inside the newly dedicated library to him as his campaign continues at full speed. The Rock and Randall Park continue their comedic sparring and the two actually have great chemistry with Park portraying himself as an egotistical actor turned news anchor who constantly feels the need to remind the Rock he was an actor to which the Rock responds ,”that yes you’ve actually mentioned it multiple times.” The Rock continues his narrative of his youth going back to his troubled teens when at the age of 15 in 1987 he was living in Pennsylvania and shoplifting to convince people he was rich when the opposite was true. Cue the media relations rep freaking out on live TV. 
 

 
With the storyline flashing back to 1987 Pennsylvania, The Rock explains that his father, Rocky Johnson, was continuing to try and relive the glory days of his wrestling career from the early 80s which led him to working any wrestling gig he could land in the late 80s. He would often lose track of time telling stories of his previous career often to bystanders who could care less. This leaves Young Rock, the oversized 15-year old kid who everybody at school is convinced is a narc at home with his mother who is preparing for a maid job with money being tight these days. Rocky,late to pick up his wife (his excuse: he lost track of time storytelling with the guys at the gym), manages to catch his son on the phone though and Young Rock asking for his father’s advice on how to win over Karen, the girl he likes, is told he has to step his game up and to not hesitate in his usual idiosyncratic manner. So he decides he won’t hesitate. But he also needed to keep up the image that he was rich and so that meant continuing to steal fancy clothes. However he is unable to catch his ride to school on the bus, the driver not believing he is an actual student and therefore he misses his shot to talk to Karen at homeroom.Then the unexpected happens when Karen and her friends “the Karens”, I kid you not show up to his pizza joint after school job which certainly throws him into disarray. However heeding his father’s words he takes action and lays on the charm with her and gets her phone number. The next day at school he continues his streak of luck by landing a date with her to his father’s wrestling match which his father promises will be at a packed college arena… only it's at a flea market… next to a college. 
 

 
 Karen displaying a spoiled persona insists on not staying and Young Rock can certainly understand with his father stretching the truth yet again. However he can’t bear to disappoint his father by leaving so he stays and stands up to Karen telling her “if you want to leave you can go, but I’m staying.” She asks why, and he promptly responds, “it's my dad.” The 2032 version of the Rock chimes in giving Randall Park the same reason and in that moment showing us a Rock who isn’t the show he puts on in public but the real very complicated Rock that exists in real life and is brought forth to the screen here. Karen rising above a cliche “dumb girl” stereotype stays and really gets into the match and takes joy in the show that Rocky puts on as future Rock narrates that in his father’s mind even though he wasn’t in an arena, “in his mind he was.” And so Rocky certainly put on a show worthy of a spectacle and thus Young Rock in rising above his selfish desire to look good in front of Karen and caring about his dad ended up with the girl even so. 
 

 
 This continues the trend of thematic storytelling from the pilot episode with future Presidential candidate Rock narrating the comical adventures of his youth that at the same time have a lot of pathos and drama to them which have strong resonating themes. Now in case you forgot Young Rock also explores the Rock when he was 10 in 1982 and 18 playing football in Miami in 1990 and the comedy will certainly get back to those plot points but it is allowing room for itself to breathe and really focus on one thing at a time which is of course the smart play. I look forward to seeing how Young Rock evolves over its run and how the scale of the Rock’s presidential campaign thematically reflects back on his adventurous youth. Young Rock is just getting started and as indicated by “On the Road Again”, shows no signs of the show getting stuck on the side of the road anytime soon.
 

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