Young Rock 1x03 "Forward, Together" Recap and Review

 


The third installment of the Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson led comedy brings the series back to young 10-year-old Rock in 1982 Hawaii. However first the story picks up in 2032 with The Rock running for President but instead of the established formula of Randall Park interviewing him in the first two episodes this episode finds the Rock in his large cityscape office armed with futuristic hologram technology relating his life story to his campaign manager. She asks him what he thinks the number one problem is on the American people’s minds and he doesn’t hesitate to answer with, “job security.” The picture they paint here is that in 2032 the American people are afraid their jobs will be replaced with automation and robots and thus the futuristic science-fiction storytelling device fun begins here. 

 

The Rock isn’t deterred by this problem on the American people’s minds and instead relates to his campaign manager how he understands American’s fears with his own families doubts and fears back in early 80s Hawaii. The story flashing back to that period of time in his life finds Young Rock around his father as he rose to fame with wrestling. His family was suddenly staying in fancy hotels and eating in high-scale restaurants but his family was still vulnerable to the ever-changing wave of life. His grandmother, the campaign manager for wrestling, faces ethical conflicts with one of her wrestlers and his mother, moving on from her father’s passing finds the strength to take a chance and audition for a singing job of a grand scale. His father, Rocky, is at a crossroads in his career as he finds his colleagues and the wrestling industry as a whole shifting and evolving in various ways he isn’t adapt to and risks getting left behind as we know from previous episodes he does as by the late 80s he is a factory worker who vicariously lives out his glory days through any gig he can land and his long-winded stories to strangers.  

   
 This installment of Young Rock wasn’t quite as strong as the first two perhaps in large part the absence of Young Rock as the main character with more focus shifted to the other characters but it still had its moments. Young Rock with his father in a high-scale restaurant taking pride in his mother’s singing performance with a groovy 80s tone was especially fun followed by the end of the episode which saw 2032 Rock’s narrative of his youth turned into a smartly designed Presidential campaign commercial with the cheeky button dialogue of, “I’m Dwayne Johnson and I approve this message.” The theme being put forth by this episode resonates that no matter the time period whether that be the 80s or 2032 or the situation being family problems or robots taking over the world we are all facing the future together. Despite this being a slower moving plot I anticipate where the narrative goes from here in exploring further of 15-year-old Young Rock’s eccentric Philadelphia adventures and 18-year-old Young Rock’s Miami University football adventures in grand scale juxtapositioned against his roots in early 80s Hawaii and the year 2032 with the ambitious Presidential campaign of Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson heating up. 


 

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