How many times has someone recommended a book, movie, TV show to you with such glowing passion that . . . well, you just nod your head and hope they SHUT THE F’ UP?! Gods above and below, please, stop talking about whatever the hell it is you’re blah-blah-blahing about! I get it, you like it. But you look like an epileptic kitten while gushing over this thing I HAVE NOT SEEN AND HAVE NO CONTEXT FOR!

. . . Just me then? Huh, maybe I am a jerk. Hmm. Anyway.

I think that despite being modern people, we still have that hunter/gatherer mentality. Finding that online deal. Finding a unique restaurant. And even in our entertainment, man . . . sitting there just scrolling through various streaming services until finding that niche thing that just catches you? Wow, what a feeling, am I right? Sure sure, sometimes we take recommendations but almost never right away. If you’re like me, months later you stumble on said media and deem it worthy of your time. Well, that happened to me with an amazing show called Players on Paramount+. A friend of mine named Adam couldn’t shut up about it. And I ignored Adam for weeks.

I was a fool.

DO NOT SLEEP ON PLAYERS!

The Non-Spoiler Pitch: Players is an amazingly deep and complex comedy-drama mockumentary on Paramount+ that follows the fictional e-sports League of Legends team, Team Fugitive. Using classic sports-style storytelling, Players flip-flops from 2015 through the present showing the team’s formation, ruination, and redemption as they seek to claim their first national title. (Side note: Between Players and the awesome Arcane on Netflix, League of Legends is growing into the greatest TV empire based on a game I’ve never played.)

The Gush: Borrowing from classic rivalries turned begrudging respect and love like Magic Johnson/Larry Byrd . . . or even Zoolander/Hansel, Players showcases two main characters: Trevor AKA Creamcheese and Percy AKA Organizm. Creamcheese is 27, basically an aging dinosaur in the gaming community. Despite being a great player, he is loud, obnoxious, a bit of an insecure prima donna, and in truth . . . a raging asshole. He’s never won the big championship and is known throughout the community as a choke artist. When the big game is on the line, Creamcheese crumbles. Note: You need to endure his personality in the beginning. Trust me, it’s worth it.

The other lead main character, Organizm, is 17, the youngest player to be drafted, and is the complete opposite of Creamcheese. He is quiet rage with obsessive-compulsive levels of focus. He wants to be the best, yet has love for the people that came before him. Even if he has to go through them. Through the 10-episode 1st season, the layers are peeled back to show why Creamcheese/Organizm are the way they are, and then the show evolves these one-note characters into painfully, yet beautifully, realized human beings, flaws and all.

The supporting cast is also amazing as through them, the larger gaming community, with all the dirty secrets and heart-warming relationships, are revealed. The show expertly shows you one thing in order to evoke an emotional response from the viewer, only to show you the same scene a few episodes later with context, altering your perception. Brav-freaking-o! Special shout-outs to Holly Chou and Ely Henry as April and Kyle Braxton, the married couple who serves as manager/coach for the team. They are the parental soul of Team Fugitive.

The Meh: The only real negative for me was the tertiary characters who are simply present. There are a couple members of Team Fugitive who fill seats, have a scene or two, but have no real bearing on the overall narrative. Maybe they’ll be fleshed out in the (hopefully) following season(s).

Final Thoughts: To me, Players is an outstanding 10 episodes of television. If you can stand abrasive language and people who say “bro!” way too many times, then you will find levels of character work and emotional development I haven’t seen in a long damn time. I’m talking early seasons of Game of Thrones when it comes to the audience flip-flopping on who is a villain and who is a hero. No, Players doesn’t have the threats of dragons or white walkers. But it does have the eternal themes of redemption, desperation, despair, and bittersweet victory. And, just perhaps, the eternal hope of reunion.

Overall: 9 out of 10.

Last note: If you watch this show and completely disagree with me, thinking it a waste of your time . . . blame my friend Adam. :)