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“As long as we don’t make no noise nobody will care”
Top Boy takes the audience from the comfort of their homes to the harsh, unfiltered reality of the emerging hyperghetto of east London’s Summerhouse estate. When watching Top Boy we have to note that this is not about society’s decline, for these people it has already happened; it is about the lives of those living within this ignored dystopia. This is not a series trying to make a point; this is a series attempting to portray real life.
The Summerhouse estate is the scene of five different, yet interconnected stories by the central cast: Ra’Nell (Malcolm Kamulete) and Gem’s (Giacomo Mancini) lives in ‘the game’; Lisa’s (Sharon Duncan-Brewster) personal battle with depression and trying to protect Ra’Nell; Leon’s (Nicholas Pinnock) attempts to protect Ra’Nell, Gem, and Lisa from ‘the game’; Heather’s (Kierston Wareing) desperate attempt to start a new life away from the estate by growing and selling weed; finally, Dushane (Ashley Walters) & Sully’s (Kane Robinson) friendship being tested as they try to climb the hierarchy of the gang.
For me, some of the character’s plot lines were very obvious - was anyone actually surprised when both Leon and Gem’s beloved dog were killed? However, it was Lisa’s emotional journey through depression to being strong enough to save Ra’Nell, and Dushane & Sully’s transformations which really gave the show depth. To its credit, the show does succeed in showing the destructive influence of ‘the game’ upon the lives of those living amidst it.
At this point I should compliment what I felt to be the strongest part of Top Boy: the cinematography. The series was so beautifully shot it caused an almost constant air of forlorn horror; perhaps the most notable example of this would be the final scene in episode three when Dushane & Sully shoot a gang-rival, Kimale, in a grave, and in the background we can see the illuminations of London.
While it was interesting television which will make people (other than sociology and criminology students) think about the socio-economic issues raised, I felt that it was nothing more than just a weak UK interpretation of The Wire. It is worth watching if you have an interest in gang-culture or socio-economic urban decline, but I personally would not recommend it.
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