Peacock Review: ‘Bel-Air’ Season 3 Reaches New Summer Heights

When Bel-Air first premiered on Peacock back in February 2022, it was an untested idea, rebooting a popular sitcom in a bold, present-day dramatic format. Three seasons in, the show has proven itself capable of taking things to an entirely new level, almost entirely abandoning its initial premise to tell an original story based only loosely on preexisting comedy characters. It’s an impressive show of maturity for a young series that shows no signs of slowing down in a visually striking and continually involving third season.

Setting things during the summer helps enliven the storyline, which finds previously at-odds cousins Will (Jabari Banks) and Carlton (Olly Sholotan) on the same team for once. Fresh out of rehab, Carlton is being closely watched by his parents and needs to get serious, partnering up with Will for a game-changing business opportunity. Phil (Adrian Holmes) and Viv (Cassandra Freeman) are pursuing their own new work opportunities, while Hilary (Coco Jones) and Ashley (Akira Akbar) navigate complicated relationships. While Geoffrey (Jimmy Akingbola) is pleased to have his son Fredrick (Joivan Wade) around, unspoken secrets threaten that renewed bond.

Season three returns to the rollout employed by season one with a three-episode premiere that features plenty of developments and complex romantic entanglements. Carlton has a new flame from rehab who Viv worries might be holding him back from getting his life back on track, while things between Will and Lisa (Simone Joy Jones) are going well until Jackie (Jazlyn Martin) is back in the picture. Phil’s business partnership with Erika (Diandra Lyle) continues to cause drama, and, facing financial problems, Jazz (Jordan L. Jones) definitely isn’t over Hilary.

This show boasts a large ensemble that ensures that there’s always something to gravitate towards, even in the span of an episode running just forty-five minutes. It’s no longer just about Will trying to fit in with people who have always had luxuries that he couldn’t even imagine since he’s now acclimated himself to comfort. Instead, it’s about those who have lost something working to get it back, and that’s legitimately interesting to watch. The stakes are high and none of these people are perfect, but, above all, they ultimately have each other’s backs and, by season’s end, will surely have worked to move past these issues and found themselves unprepared for new obstacles.

Bel-Air moves at a quick pace that allows it to cover a good deal of ground in just its first three episodes, with seven more installments set to roll out weekly on Thursdays on Peacock. There’s still just enough there to keep fans of the original show hooked, though it’s a much sleeker and more polished version of what that series looked like, giving all the characters much more substantial issues to deal with than the comedy fodder that propelled those sitcom episodes. This season also finally offers a more sizeable storyline for the youngest Banks sibling, Ashley, who up until this point hasn’t seemed old enough to merit a focus but is just as interesting as her siblings and parents.

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air lasted for six seasons, each running around twenty-five half-hour episodes, and this show has now produced just thirty hourlong installments in three seasons. There’s surely plenty of material for this show to cover in its future, and in the capable hands of showrunner Carla Banks Waddles and executive producer Morgan Cooper, there’s so much more to draw on based on how much the show has evolved so far. It’s very deep within its own narrative that any first-time viewers will need to catch up on what they’ve missed, but it’s an absolutely worthwhile investment that continues to pay off.

Season Rating: 8/10

Awards Buzz: The show has yet to make an entry into the awards conversation aside from prizes given out by organizations like BET and the NAACP, and there’s nothing to suggest that, quality notwithstanding, this will be when others finally discover one of Peacock’s best-kept secrets.