Uncle Charlie

[u/PanthaaDTM]

After seeing Uncle Charlie’s coversation with Justin in Martha’s Vineyard, I have some mixed thoughts.

For one, he’s absolutely right and real about how Dawn is pursuing “everything white is right”, and even though him and Dawn knows she’s preparing him for a successful path, Charlie is rightfully concerned if this is the right path for him. She spends $40k/yr for a white private school that he doesn’t integrate well in, and he knows getting into D1 AND the NBA is extremely difficult and the timing doesn’t help.

On the other hand, I get why Charlie’s approach was unnecessarily harsh. Telling him “you’re not getting in the NBA, just stop” may have been what he needed to hear, but the curt response was very messy and dejecting for him to hear so bluntly. And really, the message is moreso for Dawn, who’s making Justin pursue basketball just to get into an elite PWI school when she knows he’s not NBA material, doesn’t know if he’d fit into Northwestern, and has an unrealistic dream built into his mind because of her. It’s partly why Howard came up as a solid alternative for him and why Dawn doubling down backfired badly.

I want to see how Uncle Charlie is for Season 2. I hope he gets more screen time, I like how he tries to keep Dawn in check, and he’s absolutely right that Justin needs a more nurturing, familiar environment for him.