Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Swagger’ Season 2 on Apple TV+, a New Season of The Prestige Basketball Drama

The first season of Swagger, Apple TV+’s prestige high-school basketball drama, introduced us to Jace, a rising high school basketball star whose story was inspired by that of NBA superstar Kevin Durant. In Season 2, we’ve jumped ahead four years in the timeline, with Jace and his teammates having grown, matured, and ready to take on their senior year.

SWAGGER SEASON 2: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: The Cedar Cove Mustangs sit on their bus, quiet and focused, as they roll toward the Maryland State Championship at the end of their junior year, while “Ooh Child (Things Are Gonna Get Easier)” plays. It’s followed by a stirring locker-room chant, and a quick jump into game action.

The Gist: Central to the story–as in the first season–is Jace (Isaiah Hill), the team’s star and one of the most hyped prep prospects in the country. There’s Ike (O’Shea Jackson Jr.), a former prep star and mentor to Jace, Jace’s mother (Shinelle Azoroh), and a full cast of teammates. They’ve moved forward four years in the timeline, and they’re ready to take on senior year and college recruiting.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? In its deft balance of sports, teenage drama and genuine social commentary, Swagger is hugely reminiscent of Friday Night Lights, and not just because of the involvement of some that much-loved show’s creators.

Our Take: In the crowded landscape of streaming media, it’s easy to sleep on Apple TV+ content, often crowded out by the more heavily-subscribed-to products on Netflix, Disney+ and so on. But where those streamers often seem focused on sheer quantity, Apple–with a much smaller library–has been putting out shows of incredibly high quality, from the soccer comedy Ted Lasso to the family comedy/drama Shrinking.

One show that may have fallen under many viewers’ radar to date is the basketball drama Swagger. That’s a shame, because they’re missing out on some great television. The show–whose second season has just debuted–is centered on Jace, a rising prep basketball star loosely based on NBA superstar Kevin Durant. (Durant consults on the show, and his mother even makes a cameo in the Season 2 premiere).

Where the first season saw Jace as a 14-year-old up-and-comer, Season 2 jumps us ahead to his senior year, where things have gotten much more real. His Cedar Cove Mustangs have just won the Maryland state championship, and he’s being heavily recruited both by colleges and by people looking to make money off his talent. In one early scene, Jace is recruited by UCLA, blushing as he sees his name on the scoreboard in the same arena where Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s retired jersey hangs; the stakes have been raised since Season 1. As touched on by a conversation early in the premiere between Jace’s and Durant’s mothers, a major theme of this season is going to be how Jace deals with the pressure–and haters–inherent in becoming a major star.

The closest and most obvious parallel for Swagger is the beloved NBC high school football drama Friday Night Lights, which shares some overlap in creative teams. It’s a fair comparison, as that show deftly blended sports action with teen drama and social issues. Swagger may well prove as successful as FNL was, not just in delivering great entertainment, but also in being a springboard for talent. (Let’s not forget that Michael B. Jordan starred in two seasons of FNL.) With its deep, talented cast, Swagger may well have a few future movie stars in its ranks.

Sex and Skin: There’s certainly some serious, grown-up themes in Swagger, but there’s no “sexy” content.

Parting Shot: After much will-he, won’t-he consideration, Ike decides to take the suddenly-vacated head coaching job at Cedar Cove; he and Jace reflect on how far they’ve come together, and how they plan to finish the job together. It’s a great set-up for what should prove to be an entertaining season.

Sleeper Star: Much like Friday Night Lights, Swagger’s large cast is loaded with talent, and while it’s hard to call an Oscar nominee a “sleeper”, Quvenzhané Wallis is terrific as Jace’s friend Crystal.

Most Pilot-y Line: In the moments after Cedar Cove celebrates their state championship, Jace’s mother Jenna introduces herself to Wanda Durant–Kevin Durant’s actual mother, making a cameo as herself–and asks the fellow basketball mom for advice. “Some of the people that love your son will love to hate him,” Durant advises. “But don’t let that get to him, or to you.”

Our Call: STREAM IT. If you slept on the first season of Swagger, Season 2 is good enough to go back and catch up now. It’s a worthy successor to Friday Night Lights, but more than stands on its own.

Scott Hines is an architect, blogger and proficient internet user based in Louisville, Kentucky who publishes the widely-beloved Action Cookbook Newsletter.