‘Mood’ Recap: ‘I Didn’t Come to Pay I Came to Slay’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the series premiere of ‘Mood’.
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Something that is genuinely fascinating about popular entertainment, is how easy it is to find a story that can tell us what life was like during a different period of time. Be it the wild west, or Victorian times… there are just a bevy of stories that can enthrall us and fascinate us and some, even go one step further. Wherein they show us what it was like to grow up in a particular era. Something that can in fact, give us incredible perspective on our family members. For instance, if you want to learn what it was like for your parents to grow up and you were born in the 80s or 90s… there are a bevy of movies about the 50s and 60s that fill in those blanks and really provide us with a unique understanding of an era and a life we know nothing of.
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But what’s truly fascinating about this aspect of entertainment, is that it is continuing along. For stories about the 90s are starting to be seen and there are even shows on the air now, that are looking to encapsulate what life is like for people growing up in our current day and age. The kind that really showcase the unique transitional place that youth are spending their time within and one particular series in this vein, made its debut on BBC America last night. For Mood is a story that plunges us into the life of folks growing up in the second decade of a new century and millennium and what ‘I Didn’t Come to Pay I Came to Slay’ had to say about such matters is quite intriguing and powerful to say the least.

For this is a series that quickly informs us of the fact that so many people making their way in the 2020s… are a bit lost at the moment. Because this is a changing of the guard moment in our history, where the Boomers and others are about to step away and since the next generation wasn’t thought about or set up for success, since so many believed they would just follow the status quo when that did not turn out to be the case… they’re just trying to find their own way. Which is a reality that engages us deeply. For those of us in the middle of our lives, have zero understanding of the plight of the generation to replace us and well… this series premiere does a wonderful job of showing us how those that will inherit the earth want to be more and do more… but haven’t a clue where to begin. 

Especially with hustle culture being the hot thing now and with so many members of the older generation being aggressive about how old ideals need to stay alive. Which creates a powerful conflict in our youth, as evidenced by Sasha’s journey here. Since she fights to walk the straight and narrow while trying to carve out her own path as she basically hits rock bottom in this story. Because the world hasn’t given her a truth north yet, nor has anyone supported her to find one. But that does seem to change by the end of this tale when she finally finds agency and purpose through the random kindness of a stranger that has figured out her own way and her own path forward. One that not everyone will agree with.

But that is the new normal for youth. Just getting it done and finding a way and that allows for a chaotic and uncomfortable story to take place. One that rightfully confuses us and leaves us out of sorts because it takes the time to show us the world as it is and how growing up in the 2020s and carving a path isn’t easy when the selfish generation that should be ready to hand everything off, isn’t ready to do so unless it is on their terms and well… that is going to make for one fascinating series. One that will provide us with stunning perspective as Sasha’s journey through the world, on her own… no less… gets underway. Until next time.

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