Gravesend series (2020 - 2023)

 

Gravesend season 1 premiered on April 3rd 2020 and was only 4 episodes long and each episode was about a half hour.  The series is tight and goes by quickly.  We are introduced to all the characters and the series follows our main protagonist Benny Zerletta played by actor William DeMeo who also writes and directs each episode.  DeMeo is the creator of the series to boot so a lot rests on his shoulders.  The series is quick and to the point.  DeMeo's character Benny is a soldier in a crime family that runs Gravesend a part of South Brooklyn, which runs from Avenue P to the Belt Parkway and includes from Stillwell Avenue to East 12th street.  Gravesend is consider by most a blue collar area, which has gone through many changes since the early 20th Century, and it's close proximity to Cony Island made Gravesend a popular destination to get to Coney Island, and points south.  Many times I would head the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station, and hang out at the Boardwalk & Nathan's.

Season 1 of the series wastes no time getting to the plot and who is who in the film.  At the end of the series our main character and his associates find themselves in dire straits.  It ends abruptly and I am sure fans of the series had to wait till 2023 for the series to pick up, but within that time because of it's success the series jumped to  9 episodes each one over 40 minutes long.  Comparing the two seasons is night and day.  In Gravesend season 2 characters are fleshed out and as we see more and more of Benny's world.  Especially in the cast.  Such artists as Fran Dresher, Chazz Palminteri, Vincent Pastore, Armand Assante, Martin Kove, Mario Cantone, Andrew Dice Clay, Vic Dibitetto, and even Talia Shire, so the creator DeMeo knows the genre and casting all these artists is nod to other films of the genre.  I think that's what makes it such an interesting series.  

Is it familiar, and is it just another mob series?  Well yes and no.  Sure we are subjected to the same tropes as any other mob film, but William DeMeo knows his genre really well, and he is also a fan of them.  You hear it in the dialogue and see it in the story lines.  The series doesn't shy away from what it is, and it entertains  You kind of care for the characters & that's what I found so compelling.  DeMeo plays the character with some sympathy, and some how when you're watching his character there's something more deep down within the character that is driving him.  As the creator and the writer /director of the series DeMeo has his plate full.  It is not an easy thing to be making a series in NYC.  The production alone is a herculean feat, and it isn't easy doing that with a limited budget.  I'm sure when the series was bumped from 4 episodes to 9 episode there was a increase in budget, but DeMeo doesn't skimp on the talent.  Such luminaries as Chazz Palminteri, William Forsythe, and Nicholas Turturro are NOT cheap, yet they are used well, and some of the scenes their in are electric.  That's why I was captivated by the series, and don't get me started when I saw Fran Dresher in the series.  DeMeo even has a conversation with her about "Saturday Night Fever" about the very dialogue she uttered in the film.  Is that not a nod to the film and the actress herself.  You know right there DeMeo is having fun.

For me that's what makes the series so very compelling for me.  that and seeing some of the old neighborhoods I used to know.  NYC looks so great on film, and I'm sorry call me biased but seeing the old neighborhood I can smell the pizza and food wafting throughout the neighborhood.  That was Brooklyn, and though I was older I never forgot the sights and sounds of the borough.  So much so I even went to school at Brooklyn College, so this series hits home, and feels authentic.

So if you like mob movies then maybe this series is for you.  Tell them I sent you. Forgetaboutit!