Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Buffalo Bills Episode 4 begins the second half of the season with a firm reminder of what makes the Buffalo Bills organization special. The HBO series is supposed to make every team watchable, but the Bills do that all on their own and the show just gets out of the way.

The episode covers the run-up to the Bills’ final preseason game and the breaking of camp, and as such, chooses to highlight people who are on the training camp bubble. This is an expected but efficient narrative, since it will be the last opportunity Hard Knocks has to feature some players. Of course there’s screen time for Josh Allen and a blink and you’ll miss it sideline cameo by James Cook, but the episode isn’t about them, save for an informative sequence about one of the many ways the reigning NFL MVP continues to improve his work. It’ll remind viewers of Allen’s appearance on the late, great Sport Science years ago.

There are some of the best examples of the team’s camaraderie, including a spelling bee led by fan-favorite Dion Dawkins. (This segment omits the best part—everyone trying to trip up Allen with the difference between “pole” and “poll”—but that’s probably because that was already posted on the Bills’ social media platforms.) Every team in sports likes to describe itself as a family, but the Buffalo Bills make the audience genuinely feel that. Large parts of this episode feel like being on a massive family vacation that just happens to have football involved. Pat Harris and his team deserve credit for letting those moments flourish organically, and not trying to push them on the audience just for the sake of levity or entertainment.

The sticking point of Hard Knocks Episode 4 is the curse of the sports docuseries: the show is always playing from behind. The episode premieres hours after the Bills announced their preseason roster cuts, so the fans already know that many of the players who are repeatedly said to be battling for jobs haven’t been successful. (The caveat being they may return on the Bills’ practice squad, so their stories aren’t definitively over.) The constant reminders by narrator Liev Schreiber that players are fighting to stay on the team just sound redundant, and thus that element of the story doesn’t have the emotional impact the creative team wants.

But what’s lost in production the Bills make up for with their genuine heart. Episode 4 highlights how this group just does whatever they can to help each other. Whether it’s tight end Zach Davidson going back to his punting roots to fill in for an under the weather Brad Robbins, or quarterback Shane Buechele getting in on an offensive goal line push, or Jimmy Ciarlo playing whatever position necessary (even while repeatedly asking what he is), this team is just guys being good dudes. They might have five consecutive AFC East titles, but that doesn’t matter to their character. They’re the same people who sing Panic! at the Disco hits and laugh at spelling mistakes, and that’s what makes them worth rooting for. Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Buffalo Bills Episode 4 is a celebration of that, even with the knowledge that everything is about to get that much harder.

Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Buffalo Bills airs at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on HBO and streams on HBO Max. Photo Credit: Courtesy of HBO Max.

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