NEW YORK, Nov. 3 (UPI) — Living Single icon Erika Alexander says Monica, her character in the Peacock comedy, The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins, isn’t unhappy that a documentary film crew is still filming her family in Season 2, which premieres Tuesday.
Season 1 saw the titular retired football player (Tracy Morgan) hire Oscar-winning documentarian Arthur Tobin (Daniel Radcliffe) to help him stage a comeback.
The project also puts the spotlight on his manager and ex-wife Monica; their son Carmelo (Jalyn Hall); Reggie’s current fiancee Brina (Precious Way), a social media star; and his best friend/fellow former football player Rusty (Bobby Moynihan), who lives in the Dinkins’ basement.
“For Monica, she begrudgingly understands that there’s a new sheriff in town. It’s called social media and it’s called image-making and all of those things and she learned it because of the nemesis in her house, who is not treated like a nemesis, but her replacement, Brina, brings in a lot of those skill sets,” Alexander told UPI in a recent Zoom interview.
“There’s two different types of power. Monica has contracts. Brina has the followers. One controls the business, one controls the image, and Reggie needs both of us, and he knows it. So, I think that you’re looking at that, somebody who’s understanding that this is something that’s not going to go away.”
Season 2 of the show, which was created by Robert Carlock and Sam Means, sees Monica finding time to focus on her own career and personal life, too.
“What is her image? What does she look at when she looks into the mirror? Does she know who she Is?” Alexander said.
“She’s exploring that with new relationships. Boris Kodjoe comes into it, playing LP, my new love interest. And, then, also, she’s on the search for an assistant. She still can’t find one. I don’t know why. It’s horrible.”
Monica’s new relationship with the very handsome LP sparks hilarious reactions from the men in her life, who seem dazzled and insecure at the same time.
“For Carmelo, it’s like, ‘That’s Mommy.’ And, for Reggie, that was his ex-wife that no one else wanted,” Alexander explained.
“Yet, now someone wants her. That’s his perspective changing and, also, maybe he has to rectify with the collateral damage that he has from gambling and having ruined their relationship and their life and making her a little traumatized,” she added. “It’s a midlife conversation in a funny show.”
Days of Our Lives and The Killing Cove alum Way said Brina also has an exciting arc in Season 2.
“She’s going after her music aspirations even more. She’s tapping into other genres of music, which is going to be very entertaining to watch,” Way explained.
“She’s also tiptoeing into her step-mom territory and then she’s meeting Reggie’s mom, which is a whole thing within itself and it’s always interesting to look over and see how Monica feels about all that.”
Way also said she loves the moments she gets to share with Moynihan because Brina and Rusty share a sweet, quirky friendship.
“Bobby is so hilarious, but he’s so loving and he’s a dad and has these beautiful qualities that he brings to his work and he brings to the scenes with me as Brina,” Way added.
“We just get to have a good old time,” she said. “He’s kind of like Brina’s biggest cheerleader. He’s just down to hold the camera and record her or help her with her social media or whatever her plan and plot is. He’s always down for it.”