The 10-episode first season, which chronicles an entire school year, opens amid the chaos of move-in day. Deborah is attempting to make sense of her schedule, but she isn’t the only one trying to find her footing at Hillman. She rooms with Rashida Duvall (Alijah Kai Haggins), a no-nonsense scholarship student from Compton who quickly grows frustrated with Deborah’s nepo-baby, scatterbrained antics. Rounding out their trio is Hazel (Kennedi Reece), a sweet, naive young woman, completely sheltered by her conservative upbringing but determined to follow her Michelle Obama dreams. In the boys’ dorm, Shaquile Johnson (Cornell Young IV), Deborah’s old flame and Ron Johnson’s (Darryl M. Bell) only child, hopes to put the Hillman football program on the map. Turning down a Division 1 university for Hillman, he finds himself rooming with Kojo (Chibuikem Uche), a Nigerian-Ghanaian U.K. transplant and Amir (Jordan Aaron Hall), a queer Harlemite piecing his life back together after a misstep or two.
Still, this rushed pace doesn’t take away “A Different World”’s dynamism. The series connects the generations seamlessly, letting cherished characters from the original show float in and out of the new one while giving the new faces the platform they deserve. The show works perfectly well as a standalone, but knowing the lore and history behind “The Cosby Show” spinoff and even Whitley and Dwayne’s romance will undoubtedly allow those viewers a well-layered experience.
“A Different World” is now streaming on Netflix.
