Fortunately, even with the return of the direct address — where Dr. Buss revisits the swan metaphor from the series premiere and explains the origin of the phrase “swan song” — “Promised Land” is as straightforward asgets.
The episode skips past the first four games of the series, which mainly means we don’t get to see how well the production can recreate Dr. J’s legendary. Kareem has been his usual dominant self, averaging more than 34 points per game and building a 3-2 series lead for the Lakers before the ankle injury takes him out of the series.
Just think for a moment about the run that director Salli Richardson-Whitfield is on right now. She directed the final two episodes of this season, featuring so much searing drama and so much basketball. She directed four episodes of, which is this series’ spiritual and stylistic opposite in almost every way.
The victory does not solve all that ails Laker Nation, though it helps with a lot of things. Jerry Buss is nearly broke, but the championship title gives him the equity he needs to turn the Lakers into a thriving business — and one that he smartly picks Claire Rothman to run with him, rather than trying to promote one of his sons above their level of competence.
This season was messy and self-indulgent. It was also an incredibly watchable mix of highbrow and lowbrow, as exemplified by the halftime scene here where Paul recites the “band of brothers” monologue fromand then Pat adds, “Let’s kill those fuckers!” There is a risk that remaining in this era will require more than this combustible mix of creative elements can handle.
First thing in whole series that really rang false - No way stern cooks mvp vote and no way magic accepts it. Ok maybe slim chance stern cooks but then no way he tells magic.