Kevin Cage of @spotlightsaga reviews... Ballers (S03E01) Seeds of Expansion Airdate: July 23, 2017 @hbo Ratings: 2.476 Million :: 1..22 18-49 Demo Share Score: 8/10 TVTime/FB/Twitter/Tumblr/Path: @SpotlightSaga **********SPOILERS BELOW********** 'Ballers' is back on HBO, planting its hyper-masculine seed wherever it can slide in. No really. It sounds crass, but the metaphor is woven beautifully throughout the S3 premiere of the sports-centric, premium cable dramedy. Ricky (John David Washington) is having a baby, it's not exactly what he had in mind until he was told it definitely WAS happening, after he was told it wasn't when he thought it could be a possibility. Ah, don't you just love the way irony tastes? Well, I hate to break it to you, but that's not exactly irony that's sticking to the sides of your tongue... No, no... Thats more or less manipulation, take it or leave it. Amber (Brittany S Hall) is playing the game that she must play, she knows exactly how Ricky feels about her and his 'Bad Boy' image precedes him. It's not that we think Amber is wrong for how she handled the situation, it's actually totally brilliant... It's just not exactly on the up and up, but when you're dealing with a Man-Child who's just now coming to a place in his life where he's starting to come to terms with his existential reality, then the best strategy is to give the quintessential player a game to play. All this fertility talk has got our favorite underdog Spencer Strasmore (Dwayne Johnson) spooked. He brags about his 'pull-out game being 100', and Ricky suggests that maybe it's 100 because his his loins aren't exactly producing the fruits of his loom. This cascades into a mini-obsession for 'The Rock's Spencer character and even compels him to mention it to his doc, Dr Robbins (Stacy Ann Rose), who at this point, knows way too much about his life. In true Spencer Strasmore fashion, when Dr Robbins immediately sets him up with an appointment to face the truth of his fertility matter head on, Spencer dips and throws all the 'swimmer' talk somewhere deep behind the walls of what we could probably consider a wall built with bricks laced with toxic masculinity. Besides, Spencer has other 'Seeds' to think about. He borrowed money from Ricky in S2, 5 Mill to be exact, and he needs to capitalize on his next big venture to make paying Ricky back a reality. We get a bit of a big name guest star as Steph Curry and his girl give Spencer a call and he attempts to seize the opportunity to break out of the world of the NFL & into the world of the NBA. Only, nothing in 'Ballers' ever goes the way it's planned... NOTHING. Remember that. Steph cancels on Spence, Mr Anderson (Richard Schliff) is pissed because he's depending on a high profile guest of honor at a big dinner party that night. In a desperation move and without a replacement, Spencer takes his ever-encouraging, chihuahua-esque, best friend's 'feel good' advice and treats himself as the 'Main Event' at Mr Anderson's private soirée where Spencer is to woo a potential massive client, Wayne Hastings (Steve Guttenberg - Can I get a fuck yeah?!). Wayne buys into Spencer's big speech and I gotta tell ya, so did I! Ever since I was a teen, watching 'The Rock' dropping 'The People's Elbow' & raising 'The People's Brow' while laying the smack down on opponents on WWF/WWE television, I knew Dwayne Johnson was a star. Seeing him truly embody the spirit, the ups and downs, the origins, just the tooth & nail of this character, Spencer Strasmore, throughout 3-seasons of 'Ballers' truly cements him as not just a real life, big time, Hollywood actor, as we've already seen him establish... But here in 'Ballers', he's a legitimate, respectable character actor who is a real contender to eventually plant serious awards on his mantle sometime in the near future. If Dwayne Johnson has yet to earn your respect, then you haven't been paying attention. He's the real deal. He's selling Guttenberg the dream of a potential NFL team in Vegas, and you can just feel the electricity in their back & forth. These are the times when the show truly comes alive and here again we see the theme of 'planting a seed' come full circle. Let's not forget about Charles (Omar Benson Miller). He has quickly become one of my favorite characters on the show. We've seen his struggle from out of work ex-football star to cheesy car salesman to rising star and major player on the Miami Dolphins coaching staff. The pressure is real for Charles. He's getting hives, he's being thrown to the wolves (and by wolves I mean media), and he's being tossed into a position he probably isn't exactly qualified for. I can't help but think that whatever experiment the coaching staff and owners are concocting behind the scenes, that Charles is the fall guy... Or could be easily thrown into that position if whatever they're going for turns sour. Another seed planted for S3... Plenty to grow on, and it looks like we're going to get much more than just the breathtaking camera work and cinematography in my beautiful city of Miami this season! Let her rip, y'all! Ballers gon' Ball!