Calipari VICE TV Docuseries Gets Off to Solid Start, Low on Depth

First episode has worthy moments, but avoids providing Hogs fans with desired answers

Former Kentucky coach and current Arkansas coach John Calipari takes the court before the Wildcats' game against the Razorbacks Saturday Feb. 1, 2025 at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky. / Matt Stone/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The first episode of VICE TV's docuseries "Calipari: Razor's Edge" came out late Monday night and for those who have access to the channel, it's worth a look.

Because of limitations that appear to be beyond the control of the filmmakers, a lot of the answers Razorbacks fans hoped to see, especially from early in the season, are notably absent. However, there is enough here to keep casual Arkansas fans entertained even if there is a lack of the red meat commonly associated with these types of shows on VICE.

Perhaps the most shocking element is the presence of footage from the Kentucky game in the opening minutes of the show. It's a risky move from a production standpoint to incorporate footage so close to air, but the even bigger risk was framing the entire series on Arkansas coach John Calipari going from Kentucky to Arkansas and back to Rupp Arena.

Before the season, it probably made logical sense. The director made the choice to highlight time in the story using markers indicating how many days were left until Arkansas played Kentucky.

However, given how the season unfolded through the first five SEC games, had the Razorbacks gone into Rupp Arena and laid an egg, there wouldn't be a lot of juice to close the series. It would have been "And then they lost of bunch of games, won one, then went into Rupp and lost again."

Not much pop in that scenario. However, fortunately for the producers, the Hogs went into Lexington, played out of their minds, and Calipari got to experience all the hate and euphoria from a Kentucky Super Bowl gone wrong.

The show starts with Calipari's arrival at Kentucky and makes him sound like the most dominant coach to ever step onto a court over the next few minutes. Then, it gets around to him leaving to come to Arkansas where viewers are greeted to a lot of the same footage they saw over and over back in April.

It then goes into a series of practices where Calipari says he pushes players so hard and is so tough on them they usually want to quit, but what is shown doesn't really align with that. Compared to the likes of former Arkansas coaches Nolan Richardson and Eric Musselman, Calipari comes off as modern parents putting a child in timeout as compared to old school parents who whoop a badly behaved one.

The only thing Calipari is seen doing that should even cause an eyeroll from a player is blow the whistle and make them do 10 sprints after they kept talking after he started speaking instructions. However, the moment does lightly highlight an early problem with the team in that at times players aren't listening and there is no leader within the group to shut things like that down.

Lack of leadership continues to be an issue Calipari tackles later in the episode after seeing how "sad" his players are despite a win because they're all down about their personal performances. He rightfully points out there are no team leaders because no one wants to follow people who are acting like that.

The highlight of the first episode is the trip to New York for the Michigan game. The film crew was so strong shooting there with beautiful b-roll of the city, quality lighting and interesting things captured behind the scenes that it almost feels like a different group took over momentarily.

It's here Calipari had his moment to shine. In a scene that will resonate with Arkansans, he travels to St. Patrick's Cathedral in the early morning hours to pray for people in his life.

This is also where, in a moment of perspective, he shared that he has to remember these aren't just players. These are people's children who have been left to his care.

The show then focuses heavily on the game against the Wolverines where the Hogs got down by 15, came back to lead by 18 and eventuallly won by two. Had this been a docuseries put together under normal conditions, this is where the episode would have naturally ended on this voiceover.

"A huge win for Boogie's hometown calls for celebration, but conference play begins in the new year and Arkansas isn't just in the SEC, they're in this year's exceptionally dominant SEC. Every team is a powerhouse and the Razorbacks are not ready."

But, that's not where it ended. It goes on for two more acts, speeding through the losing streak in the SEC. That SEC run up until the Kentucky game would have done well as an Episode 2, showing in-depth the fall, the frustration and why it happened.

It's basic story telling. The protagonist starts in a best case scenario, but by the end of Act 1 there are hints that something isn't right. Then, Act 2 jerks the rug out from under the protagonist and the audience gets to truly experience the pain, frustration and flaws that led to the downfall, setting up the hero's comeback in the end.

Unfortunately, the title gives a strong clue as to why the structure feels so rushed in Episode 1 as viewers are literally taken through the entire season all the way up until the Kentucky game. The scope the filmmakers have is razor thin and everything must be centered directly around Calipari.

It would have added much needed depth to flesh out some of the story around the players. It would have been nice to hear from the players how they felt about being viewed as Kentucky Wildcats by fans at first rather than Arkansas Razorbacks and how they planned to change that perception.

It would have been good to touch on the choice to recruit so few players and dive into how that affected them individually. Viewers know there are only six or seven players practicing so scrimmages can't happen, but the show doesn't address why.

Also, nothing is done to address the players who are injured during this time, what their injuries were, or how it happened. This was a great opportunity to let players address the stress and concern of falling behind, worrying about letting the team down by being out, and how difficult it was to get anything done without being about to run five-on-five.

Instead, there is just a brief, distant view of a couple of guys working on stationary bikes. That's because it's clear this isn't allowed to be about the players.

They only answer questions in interviews directly about Calipari. They aren't allowed to talk about themselves, leaving a much-needed component, one that has been missing as a bridge between this team and the fans all year, unbuilt.

Other opportunities to flesh out the story, even under the strict constraints that all must be directly about Calipari, are missed. When the players are talking about choosing to follow Calipari, it would have been great to hear from one of the parents and the discussion that was had with their son in regard to whether to go to Arkansas or stay at Kentucky.

Arkansas athletics director Hunter Yurachek and Hogs' donor John Tyson are notably left out also outside of footage from their appearance at Calipari's introduction. It would have been great to hear what the conversations were behind the scenes between the two of them, but viewers get none of that context.

As for the struggle in the first few weeks of the SEC that should have been its own episode, the audience is treated to an ultra fast-forwarded version of events. It's limited to game footage with a few of Chuck Barrett's calls, and with each loss it gets quicker.

Other than a passing comment from Calipari while walking out of the arena in Tennessee about the Volunteers beating Arkansas the way the No. 1 team should have beaten them, there's nothing from the team at all once the losses start flowing.

There is still hope some of the context will come in future episodes. There are supposed to be six installments, although it's hard to ascertain how that will happen.

It seems safe to assume the Kentucky game will be its own episode, but where does the director go from there? It's possible the choice is made to backtrack and walk everything up to the Kentucky game four more times from different perspectives, but that could get monotonous considering how much was touched on during the first episode.

At the very least, it gives good cause to stick around for a second episode, if for nothing else, to see where this thing is headed. Perhaps more depth will come with time that will finally pull back the curtain on a lot of the questions Arkansas fans have had throughout the season.

They just didn't come this time around.

HOGS FEED:

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• WATCH: Preview of Calipari's docuseries premiering Monday

• Emotional factors, recent improvement put Hogs in rare situation

• Which three 2025 Razorbacks are likely to end up in NFL?

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