ImStillPreoccupiedWith1985

Flashback episodes are the laziest most useless episodes I've ever seen, it doesn't matter what show I'm watching It just infuriates me so much when I come across one. The worst part about this one is that it's a part 1 part 2 episode so it's 40 minutes of laziness rather than the usual and still insufferable 20. It's not only that they decided to reuse half of their footage it's the way they did it so that they basically replayed whole 5 minutes clips from them. I don't need to be reminded of this I've already seen it. I don't care what show I'm watching or how good it is I will always resent flashback episodes.

It genuinely amazes me that this episode only has an 8.8 rating. As someone who finished the show, this episode has definitely been the most memorable to me. The final scene was so brilliantly acted by Will Smith and it was so raw and emotional. It made me cry. The Fresh Prince is still one of my favourite shows and I think one of the shows that best handled an episode like this as it had been done so often in the 80s and 90s. They really took it from a different angle and I think that's what made this episode so memorable. As well as the incredible performances not just from Will Smith but the whole cast.

Everything in this movie was so out of character for the Keaton family. The most unrealistic part about Alex getting chased through the streets by a dog is that he never would have stopped to pet it in the first place. Mallory is not THAT stupid, and anyone who watches the show knows that she doesn't act like that when she likes a boy. Jennifer felt like a side character. And Elise and Steven would never have put their kids in danger like that, they would have asked them to stay back.

I read another review which I really agree with they said that this really didnt portray the key features of the show that made it so great. Not only did they disappoint in terms of humour and values, I felt like they had all the same names but were different characters, none of them really acted like themselves.

The spy plot was so incredibly ridiculous, it would have been so much better if they just did a fun episode where the kids run around london and cause trouble for Alex at Oxford.

To wrap it up, I love family ties (9/10 from me, and only because I never rate TV shows 10) but this special really let me down, it was clearly impossible to find for a reason.