CHOZEN: Episode 1, Season 1 “Pilot” (airing Monday, January 13, 10:30 pm e/p). An aspiring rapper tries to get his life back on track after being released from prison. Written by Grant Dekernion. Pictured: (L-R) Ricky (voice of Michael Pena, Chozen (voice of Bobby Moynihan) Crisco (voice of Hannibal Buress). FX Network
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Chozen is the newest comedy to hit the FX Networks, appearing right after Archer’s season 5 premiere. Staring Booby Moynihan, a favorite cast member on SNL, is now the main character, Chozen himself. The back story is that Chozen or Phil is a gay white rapper who is fresh out of prison.
Spoilers do lie below, so I highly suggest you watch the first episode of Chozen prior to reading the rest of the review.
Chozen is a very interesting character, prior to his time in prison, is the back story that opens up the first episode. We meet the original crew, which raps about how “drugs are dumb” and that where friends are where it is at. Conflicts begin to arise, specifically between Phil and Phantasm, the later appears to have similarities to Kanye West. This creates some interesting comedic lines, that might make him upset. We learn that “Phanto”, which appears to be his nickname, ends up backstabbing Chozen in the back. While he is thrown in prison, due to him framing him, he becomes the number one rapper.
After the quick back story, Chozen finally gets out of prison and we learn that everything changes when you go away. He comes out of prison looking to take what is rightfully his back, the quest to become the number one rapper. He changes from a sweet character, to a rougher around the edges one. He ends up moving in with his sister Tracy, who is at college. Chozen has the tendencies to ruin certain situations and doesn’t develop the best social skills. The jokes that he cracks are not on a very high level, but they do get some laughs.
He can apparently write lyrics when ever he wants and while the ideas are simple, they make for some very interesting songs. We meet some very interesting characters, including Jimmy, who has an interesting target industry for his photographs. But, he also used to be in the business of designing sets for many of the Rock’n Roll stars. He inspires Chozen, to put on his first show since getting out of prison. We then see that he catches up with some of the other members of his old crew and he brings some items that aren’t necessarily allowed in front of the children.
At the end we see the crew come back together, minus Phantasm of course, and it shows that they come together when they need each other. He goes back to his old ways and gets a full makeover and goes back to the rapper clothing’s. Jimmy is there to help and his crew shows up, as they are no longer afraid of what Phantasm might do. When he hits the stage, the crowd immediately goes wild and the smartphones come out to record the rappers first song since out. Interesting topics for the song are combined with an awesome set, filled with lights and pyro. He outlines his plan, he’s going directly after Phantasm.
Chozen has a very interesting plot line and it will take a few episodes to really get into the groove. If you like Archer and are looking for a new comedy, you should certainly check it out. It premiered exclusively on FX at 10:30PM(EST) on 1/13/14, with the second episode coming on January 20th and is entitled “Love & Bottlerockets”.
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