Bel-Air’s Lou Change Makes Will’s Backstory Even More Tragic
WARNING: Spoilers ahead for Bel-Air season 1!
Peacock’s Bel-Air adds more intense changes to Lou’s abandonment of Will, making the protagonist’s backstory even more tragic. As Bel-Air's dramatic reboot repeats, the most upsetting aspect of Will’s upbringing in Fresh Prince was the absence of his dad. Will never grew up with a father figure, which is why he became so close with Uncle Phil after moving to Los Angeles, as he became the father figure that Lou never could. In both cases, Lou is an unavailable father who makes an active decision to not be in Will’s life, but Bel-Air’s version of their reunion and backstory is far worse for Will.
Lou only appears in one episode of Fresh Prince, but his storyline is one of the most memorable plots in the entire sitcom. After abandoning Will 14 years before, Lou comes to Bel-Air and spends the day bonding with Will, even telling him that he wants Will to come on the road with him for the summer. Of course, as Fresh Prince's Uncle Phil predicted, Lou disappoints Will again and leaves town without him, proving that he never truly changed. Fresh Prince’s story with Lou always paints him as a man who can’t take the responsibility of being a father, with viewers simply waiting for the moment in the episode that he inevitably abandons Will again.
Related: Bel-Air Suggests A Major Fresh Prince Character Won’t Exist In The Reboot
Bel-Air’s dramatic reboot introduces a twist for Lou and Will’s backstory, with the finale episode initially suggesting that it wasn’t Lou’s decision to not be in his son’s life. When Lou and Will finally meet, Lou tells him exactly what he wants to hear – that he loves Will, always wanted to be there for him, and only stayed away because he was in prison and
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