A Review of the New Season of ‘Life After Lockup’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

It is definitely safe to say, that a stigma still surrounds reality television. For people still see it as escape television, a chance to look at someone else’s ‘messy’ life for entertainment value when in fact… reality television is nothing of that sort. Granted, it might have been that in its early days, and there were definitely shows that assembled drama for the people present in the series to experience. But in the past decade or so, reality television has transformed into something vastly different. For now, it features meaning and gravity and it can in fact… teach us a great deal about life and who we are in these modern times, and one network leading the way in producing such content is WE tv.
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For their Lockup franchise has provided all of us with unique perspective on love, and how we find it and how we maintain its wonder and those stories have captivated us for years on end and welcomed us into the lives of the many people who agreed to let cameras film their struggles with prison life and what it means to emerge from the slammer. If anything, this franchise is top of mind today, simply because Life After Lockup has returned to the airwaves for a new season of storytelling and last night’s episode really was something quite special and informed us that this season is going to offer us some new insights on life and love and the human condition.  

Because this premiere and this season… really do dig deep into the struggles that come forth regarding love, regardless of the fact that these relationships that sustained them while there were metal bars between them and that exploration on matters of the heart, outright led to some powerful moments in this opening chapter. The kind that reminded us that love isn’t easy in the slightest. That it takes major work and communication and a vulnerability that few of us are comfortable with. Since we have to surrender our heart and our very soul to the ones we love and that’s as scary as it gets, and it was powerful to see Justine do that with Michael here and see Shawn and Sara struggle with it as well.
  
But while this offers up some fascinating commentary on how we communicate in love and the struggles that accompany building a healthy relationship… it is what this journey has to say about starting over, especially for those convicted of a crime, that is eye opening. Since this episode hammers home the struggles we face in the reset and how hard it is to adjust to a new life that we aren’t used to, and this episode also deserves a round of applause… for exploring the stigma that surrounds those who leave prison. Since there are hints to be found everywhere of how folks who served time, are viewed differently and how they are in essence expected to fend for themselves with minimal support from a system that was designed to offer them a fresh start and skills to return to the world, and that makes for some powerful television for certain… the kind that is vastly different than the stigma surrounding reality television suggests.

But above all, what makes this premiere worth one’s while… is that it reminds us that regardless of our choices, our mistakes, and our path… our experiences are far more common than we think. For much of what we saw here… is no different than what the rest of us experience in our lives. For we too harbor those fears and struggle with starting over now and again, making it clear that this series is just a slice of life, one that has chosen to spotlight a different and unique journey for certain when it comes to starting over… but it is about life none the less. How we love, how we thrive, how we grow, and it will be fascinating to see how these couples do just that… as this fresh season of this wildly popular series continues along. Until next time. 

To learn more about Justine and Michael’s journey, check out our interview with this dynamic couple.

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