The second episode of Fightland is somehow even more chaotic than the first. The Starz show is certainly not pulling its punches, delivering a lot of adrenaline-fueled entertainment. At the same time, having such a hectic plot requires that the audience pay close attention to everything going on, or they might miss out.
“Brick by Brick” picks up exactly where the Fightland premiere left off, with good reason: Duke has to talk Lazaro out of shooting both him and Jay as they decide what to do with a dead Simeon. The bulk of the episode deals with how Duke executes his plan to blame the drug theft on the Albanians; he’s a pretty great tactician for someone who’s only been in the drug game a few days. This would be eyebrow-arching if not for the writers throwing some mundane problems in Duke’s path so he’s not speedrunning the road to criminal mastermind.
One of those things, naturally, comes from Jay. His erratic driving gets the two of them pulled over, which in turn means Duke misses the window to plant the drugs where he intended. It’s a relatively small scene, but it’s great for two reasons. Firstly, Fightland acknowledges Duke’s celebrity instead of just forgetting about it as part of his backstory. Secondly, it reaffirms that the show is grounded in reality; characters are going to have to deal with basic issues, not just the entertaining, dramatic ones.
Fightland uses Jay to move the plot forward, because his debt collecting job is for the Albanians. This is an efficient way to keep him relevant beyond being the ne’er do well friend. It’s Jay who finds a new spot to plant the drugs, and it’s Jay’s psuedo-boss who gets murdered when he walks in on the operation. This pulls viewers into the ongoing back and forth between the Albanians, Cebella and Zeek—and Anita-Joy Uwajeh continues to be the breakout star of Fightland. She perfectly plays both savvy businesswoman and would-be drug kingpin, making Cebella a true villain in the absence of Kingsley. “Brick by Brick” also probes the dynamics between Cebella and Zeek, Cebella and her stepmom Joy, and the backstory with Joy and Duke. It’s not quite as tragically romantic as Power‘s Ghost and Angela, but the scene between Duke and Joy at the bowling alley is still really sentimental.
The Power comparisons are less obvious but still present in Fightland Season 1, Episode 2. That’s because there’s even more to keep up with than there was in the first episode. There are chaotic detours (a riot breaking out at the end of Kareem’s fight) and major revelations (that Kim the ring girl is an undercover cop and Simeon’s handler). There are relationship beats for Duke and his father Gary, Duke and Joy, Cebella and Joy, and even Zeek and Cebella. There’s also a van set on fire, a brutal stabbing death and a cliffhanger. The writers could slow their roll just slightly, in order to allow some of the more prominent plot and particularly character points to sink in with the audience. There’s no risk of losing the viewers’ attention when the performances are so universally good.
“Brick by Brick” fleshes out most of the Fightland characters in one way or another, except Kingsley, who remains an enigma. But honestly, it doesn’t feel like the show needs him. The “where is Kingsley” question doesn’t seem very pressing when Cebella fills the villain role ably and there are plenty of other things for Duke to be challenged by or angry at (such as the one brief but important argument between Duke and Gary when Duke overhears a promoter trying to pitch Gary on getting Duke back in the ring). Obviously, Kingsley has to come back at some point so Duke can have that face-to-face confrontation with the man who ordered the hit on him and got his brother killed. But he doesn’t cast as long a shadow as Fightland thinks, when two episodes in viewers already completely understand all of the characters who are in play.
Fightland Episode 2 adds even more chaos while also being a massive information dump. There’s not a slow moment in the whole episode, even as Duke is talking to Joy. It does at times feel overwhelming with how much the viewer has to keep track of—not just all the drug-dealing drama, but emotionally. But “Brick by Brick” certainly keeps the audience on the hook, even if they also have to keep their head on a swivel.
Fightland airs Fridays at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on Starz and streams on the Starz app. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Starz.
Article content is (c)2020-2026 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram. For story pitches, contact me at tvbrittanyf@yahoo.com.
