Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Being Serena’ On HBO Will Make You Fall Hard For Serena Williams

Serena Williams is often called the GOAT, aka the Greatest Of All Time, of tennis, but who is she away from the court? HBO’s new five-part docu-series Being Serena (debuting tonight, May 2, at 10 PM ET) looks at who the groundbreaking champion is off the court. Is the series a fluffy vanity project or does it have something profound to say about the athlete being profiled?

BEING SERENA: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: Sunlight shines through a tennis net as Serena Williams, dressed down and ready for training, walks somberly across the court. We watch her hit balls, dash across the court, and — very openly — sweat. Williams starts speaking to us in voice over about how for years she’s only defined herself in one way: by her successes, her championships, and by making history.

The Gist: Being Serena is meant to be a lovingly candid look at the legendary tennis champion as she adjusts to new motherhood amid the pressures of staying on top of her game. Williams has already opened up a little bit about her difficult delivery (and subsequent postpartum surgeries), but Being Serena takes us inside the hospital room — and inside Williams’s own brain — during these trials.

The first episode opens on Williams explaining how shocking it was to discover that she was in fact pregnant shortly before nabbing her 23rd Grand Slam singles title at the 2017 Australian Open. Williams’s own take on the matter is bookended by caring confessional-style interviews from her long-time agent Jill Smoller, doting husband Alexis Ohanian, and rival/sister Venus Williams. (In fact, Venus’s commentary that she wants a rematch since their Australian Open face-off was technically a 2 vs. 1 situation is warmly cute.)

We then follow Williams as she prepares to give birth. Early scenes suggest that it’s been a relatively easy pregnancy for the professional athlete and that she looks at the whole thing as yet another physical challenge to overcome. Intercutting scenes of Williams nesting and fretting are flashbacks to how she got here. We look at early footage of young Williams practicing tennis with her father in Compton and get an abridged retelling of how she and Ohanian met. The first episode ends on Williams’ delivery plan going awry.

Our Take: First thing’s first: Being Serena is a very, very pretty docu-series. The whole show is gorgeously shot in an opulent style that almost undercuts the intimacy of what we’re actually seeing. Yes, Serena Williams is made up and styled like a movie star for her to-camera interviews, but we also see her in moments of total vulnerability: working out, sweating hard, and confronting the terror of a delivery gone wrong. It’s a glossy show that’s managing to show both the hyper-glamorous world of Williams and all the work it took to earn it.

Work is important to Serena Williams. That comes across loud and clear. There are no wild revelations about Williams’ personality here. She’s not a secretly zany person mugging for the camera. Rather, she comes across as a deeply focused person who looks at life as a series of obstacles to conquer and subdue. Her romance with Ohanian doesn’t necessarily show a “softer side,” per se, but Ohanian’s bright, cheerleading personality makes for a perfect foil to Williams’s stoic resolve. You buy their romance because they work as a unit.

Speaking of romance, this show manages to charm you into really loving Williams and her inner circle. More than once, I found myself breaking out into a beaming smile — not because of anything Williams did, but because of how much the people around her really cherish here. It comes across in a joke or an insight or a small moment of support. As docu-series go, Being Serena is unfathomably charming.

Sex and Skin: Being Serena is decidedly PG-rated. I haven’t caught any potty language or smut so far. At one point, the doula says the word “vagina,” when discussing birthing options and Serena herself makes a face.

Parting Shot: The final moments of tonight’s premiere take us literally into the operating room as Serena Williams preps to go under the knife to save her baby and her self with a C-section surgery. Then it cuts to black.

Sleeper Star: Everyone deserves someone who loves them as much as Serena’s husband, Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian, loves her. He is not only adorable in his enthusiasm for her, but I found it especially endearing how he eggs on her competitive streak.

Most Pilot-y Line: In the opening clip, Williams lists all her accomplishments as an athlete and then very solemnly says, “And then my life changed forever.”

Our Call: Stream it! It’s a well-made docu-series that gives you a look at the human side of one of sport’s greatest living legends. Also, at a mere 30 minutes per episode, it’s an easy-peasy watch.

Where to Stream Being Serena