(Photo source Wikipedia)
Underground is the best show on television.
It is.
If you don’t know, Underground airs one WGN America, a cable network. The show is set prior to the start of the American Civil War (the second season is leading upon to Brown and Harper’s Ferry) and focuses on the Macon 7, a group of slaves trying to escape the Macon Plantation. The focus is on three of these run-ons, Rosalee, Noah, and Cato. The main cast is rounded out by Ernestine (Rosalee’s mother), Elizabeth (an abolitionist), and August (a slave catcher). Additionally, there are several supporting characters.
I started watching because of Journee Smollet-Bell. She has earned the right to my time ever since Eve’s Bayou. I kept watching because of the wonderful writing and the strong women, who are strong in so many different ways
The
first season, as the name implies, was focused on the Macon 7 and their quest for freedom. Rosalee (Jurnee Smollett-Bell) and her mother
(Amirah Van) work in the house, Cato (Alano Miller) works as an assistant to
the overseer, and Noah (Aldais Hodge) has been recaptured after an escape. Part of the first season focuses on the
groundwork the seven most do to escape, the other half on the escape. Breaks are taken from the on the run plot as
the viewer spends time with Elizabeth (Jessica De Gouw) and her husband, John
(Marc Blucas) as well as what happens to those left behind. Even slave catcher August (Christopher
Meloni) is given a backstory and a family that makes him human.
The
second season widens the scope – Rosalee works with Harriet Tubman, Elizabeth
joins a Sewing Circle that isn’t just about sewing, and the others struggle through
various hardships.
Each
episode of Underground is well written, well directed, and well-acted. Everything that occurs in the series has an
historical precedent or draws on a historical documented fact. The cast and crew also trust the viewer. There is a gut wrenching scene in the first
episode where Rosalee steps in and takes a punishment for her younger brother
James. The viewer suspects, and then
knows, that Tom Macon, the owner of the plantation and the man who okays the
punishment, is Rosalee’s (and James’) biological father. This is conveyed thought the excellent acting
of both Amirah Vann and Reed Diamond (who guested as Tom Macon). Even a character like Elizabeth, who I first
thought would be the weakest developed character, is given not only depth, but
who surprisingly quickly became a second favorite. In many ways, one of the greatest pleasures
of the first season is watching both Rosalee and Elizabeth discover their
hidden strengths in different and surprising ways – their interior journeys
mirroring the harrowing onscreen escape saga.
The
first season also dealt with issues such as sex and rape in terms of slavery –
not only from the enslaved woman’s point of view but from the enslaved man’s
point of view, for Cato and Noah go to some lengths to gain some vital equipment
for the escape.
And it
isn’t just the issue of sex and rape, but also the question of morality and how
slavery forces people into some tough choices.
Ernestine makes questionable and possibly immoral choices all for the
safety of her family, of her children.
That is her driving force. Cato,
oh Cato. Cato is the most complex
character of are, and the area of ultimate debate -good, bad, or simply what
those who abused him made him?
And it
isn’t only the good guys. August is not
a good guy, in fact Detective Stabler would beat him up. But the creators are smart enough to make him
human, and the story of his son, Ben, is one of the best developments and plots
of season one.
The
stand out episode of season one was “Cradle”, an episode told entirely though
the viewpoints of children – James (Maceo Smedley), Boo (Darielle Stewart), Ben
(Brady Permenter), T.R. Macon (Toby Nichols), and Henry (Renwick D Scott). Standout is a relative term – there are, as
with every show, a few points where the eyebrows raise, but every upset is made
with heart and care. Standout here just
means a little, and in most cases, inventive or bold – as is the case in using
the viewpoints children. But Underground
does this. It does not shy away
This
season’s stand out episode, at least so far, is “Minty”. “Minty” is what good television should be and
what very few networks will ever do. The
whole premise is a speech given by Harriet Tubman (Aisha Hinds). That’s it.
Just Hinds as Tubman speaking in front of an audience. It is a bold move.
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