Back UNDERGROUND

Article first published UNDERGROUND Season 2 Premiere Review on Seat42F.

WGN America’s UNDERGROUND begins its second season this week. Starting about five months after the freshman run’s finale, we quickly pick up the stories of most of our characters, more or less where we left them. Time has passed, but it’s been relatively uneventful. Something tells me, after watching the first episode, that that won’t be the case for very much longer.

UNDERGROUND is interesting to me because it’s not obvious at first who the leads are in the first year. There is a large ensemble full of talented performers, and while many of them are removed as the story progresses, there are still more important roles than the five who are listed as the primary cast, which includes only Rosalee (Jurnee Smollett-Bell), Noah (Aldis Hodge), Elizabeth (Jessica De Gouw), Cato (Alano Miller), and August (Christopher Meloni).

Thankfully, the show has been successful enough to expand that ensemble in season two. The most important of the four new leads is Ernestine (Amirah Vann), Rosalee’s mother, who always had her own plot arc, but now is officially among the principal players. UNDERGROUND season two has also added characters named Georgia (Jasika Nicole, Fringe), Clara (DeWanda Wise, Shots Fired), and Harriet (Aisha Hinds, Under the Dome, If I Stay).

Harriet, as in Harriet Tubman. Clearly a recast from the brief shot of the legendary figure from last year’s finale, it’s kind of cool that she is now part of the group. Previously, I’d worried that adding someone with such name recognition might distract from the core narrative. However, after checking out the start of season two, I don’t think that will be the case.

UNDERGROUND remains focused on the stories of the characters from year one. While Rosalee, Noah, and Elizabeth were just dipping their toe into the secret movement to free the slaves, they’re now larger players in the game, so it makes sense they’d come across Harriet. Harriet doesn’t get any more precedence than the others, less than the returning main players, so she’s an interesting element that signals our players have gotten deeper into the action, rather than a shift to a new direction.

We’ve also got some new locations. Most notably, Ernestine has left Macon Plantation and is (sort of) settling into a very different type of community. Between that and the scenes in Ohio and Canada, we begin to get a fuller picture of different parts of the United States, all of which were affected by the slave industry and those who opposed it.

There are some terrific surprises, too. As with the first year, audiences may think they know where things are heading, only to have the rug yanked out from under them by the unexpected. This is a sign of good storytelling, and an example of how UNDERGROUND roots itself in reality. While there are some fantastical coincidences and run-ins, for the most part the series keeps viewers on their toes in an authentic manner, and there’s at least one big twist in the initial return that leaves me wanting to jump right into the next episode.

Not everyone you expect to see is in the second year’s premiere. There is a lot going on in UNDERGROUND, so it doesn’t feel empty that some faces may have to wait a week for us to catch up with them. Instead, it’s a busy, satisfying hour, and I’d rather a few people take this installment off than force hokey subplots to include them.

In all, I’d rate the premiere pretty high, accomplishing what it needs to accomplish, building the established world larger, and still maintain the things that makes this show compelling. UNDERGROUND returns Wednesday at 10/9c on WGN America.

Going UNDERGROUND

Article first published as UNDERGROUND Review on Seat42F.

WGN America’s newest series is UNDERGROUND. Set in the pre-Civil War Days, it follows a swath of representative Americans, both black and white, slaves and free, at a pivotal, conflict-ridden time for our country, just before full-scale war erupts. It’s a period we’ve seen before, most notably in Roots, but never in a successful, ongoing weekly series, which should allow the writers and performers to get much deeper into the personalities and complexities of the era than has been done before.

UNDERGROUND stars Aldis Hodge (Straight Outta Compton, Leverage) as Noah, a smart man who is tired of being forced to serve a master, but who knows it wouldn’t be productive to openly rebel. Instead, he plays the game, pretending to be obedient, even while making secret plans to flee the plantation and head north, using the Underground Railroad referred to in the show’s title.

Noah is not going to go alone, which might be a good or bad idea, depending on how it plays out. Among his possible traveling companions are: Rosalee (Jurnee Smollett-Bell, True Blood, Friday Night Lights), a timid house slave and protective older sister; Moses (Mykelti Williamson, Justified, 24), who allows the others to believe he can read, even though it’s his wife, Pearly Mae (Adina Porter, True Blood, The Newsroom) who has been educated; and Cato (Alano Miller, Jane the Virgin), the collaborator who wants to go so he isn’t punished in their place after the others are gone, if he doesn’t turn them in first.

To represent the dominant race of the time, UNDERGROUND has August Pullman (Christopher Meloni, Law & Order: SVU, Wet Hot American Summer), John Hawkes (Marc Blucas, Buffy the Vampire Slayer), and Elizabeth Hawkes (Jessica De Gouw, Dracula). John is a lawyer and an abolitionist, who is offered the job of campaign manager by his brother (Dollhouse’s Reed Diamond), a Northerner who has moved South and now owns the people John is fighting to free. John’s wife, Elizabeth, seems mentally unstable, though, putting additional pressure on John. And August is… well, I’m not sure if he’s a help to runaways or a slave catcher yet, but I’m sure we’ll soon figure that out.

As you can see, there are a number of different parties represented, and that gives UNDERGROUND a full feel, in a good way. The focus is on the African-Americans, as it should be. However, no one portrayed are just stereotypes, with complex realities warring with individual morality and circumstance. Each individual, including a number of those not listed above, stand out and are quickly memorable.

The production is equally well done. Filmed in the American south, one can feel the sweat dripping when characters are out in the fields, and the landscapes are beautiful. There’s a gritty realness to it, and the costumes and sets are clearly well thought-out.

The music in UNDERGROUND is probably the oddest part of the show. At times, it is appropriate for the year, including in singing some of the more spiritual songs. But at other times, modern numbers are mixed in that really kind of pull one out of the moment. The lyrics of these fit the story, so it’s not like they’re just pop songs to punch things up, but at the same time, they clash in such a way that doesn’t quite feel right to me.

The music is the only complaint I have, though. Overall, I found UNDERGROUND to be a compelling narrative with plenty of quality in the cast, the story, and the style. The drawback is minor enough to overlook, and it’s debatable whether it really is a negative, even if I don’t understand why it’s present, at least not yet. I do recommend this one, and will probably watch more of it soon.

UNDERGROUND airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on WGN America.