Underground - The Lord's Day - Review: "Best Laid Plans"

I am very rarely surprised by a television episode. I groan when a show does a promo touting the “game changing” event in the upcoming episode. It’s never something I didn’t see coming and it almost never changes the game. This week’s episode of Underground had a twist that was a complete surprise and actually changed the game. But, let’s work our way back to that.

The episode opened much the same as last week’s episode. Noah sets a schedule for the escape. they make their run in 6 days. That being decided they have a lot to do to be prepared. They’ll need the master’s seal for their forged freedom papers, to build solid harnesses and install the hooks needed for them to enact Sam’s plan to get across the river.

Rosalee is tapped to steal the seal. She’s chosen partly because of access and partly to test her mettle. No one other than Noah, who is clearly smitten, thinks she’s strong enough to survive the run. She manages to get the seal to Pearly Mae so she can complete the freedom papers. Unfortunately, when she tries to return it, Tom is sitting at his desk working. Before she knows what’s happening, the whole plantation is in an uproar, because the seal has been missed. Ernestine takes one look in her daughter’s eyes and knows she’s the culprit. Ernestine gets TR, Tom’s son, to accept blame in exchange for a piece of molasses. (I rewound and double checked. The kid only got one piece of candy. I would have asked for at least 5. )

The missing seal wasn’t the only drama on the plantation this episode. Being pregnant, Mrs. Macon didn’t want a baby killer on her plantation. So, they sold Zeke’s wife. When Zeke heard this, he charged over, I think, to say goodbye. The wagon was already moving, so he barreled into the wagon’s wheel like a linebacker and took it off. The man demolished that wagon. Needless to say this landed him in the box.

At first blush this scene seemed to be about giving the audience a history lesson about the hardships that slaves faced. But, by the time the episode was over, it was effected several of the stories.

Zeke was put in the box as punishment for destroying the wagon. Noah found himself asking Cato to get him out. Cato made a great show of reluctantly agreeing, but, he was able to work this to his advantage on two fronts. One: in exchange for helping Zeke, Noah had to teach Cato the song. So the one guy that none of the future escapees trusts has a copy of the map. Two: Cato makes a bid to gain Zeke’s loyalty for himself by telling Zeke that Noah was going to leave him behind.

Sam’s blood pressure is nearly blown. The wagon wheel Zeke broke gives Tom a good opportunity to follow up on the promise he made Ernestine last week. He stops in to talk to Sam about James working there as an apprentice. None of this visit would be a big deal except that Noah is up in the rafters testing the harnesses they plan to use for the escape.

As if I hadn’t held my breath through enough of the episode, Rosalee was walking down to break the news to Noah that she was not going to run with them when an obviously drunk Bill called her over. I was nervous last week watching the other owners making moves on Rosalee, but, because Tom was in the room, I was pretty sure it wouldn’t happen. But when Bill forced her to stop and listen to him, my stomach sank. I knew there was no escape for her this time. My expectations were fulfilled when Bill grabbed her and hauled her into his house. I was absolutely floored when she ran from that house and announced to a passing Noah that they had to run right that second because she’d killed Bill.

THAT is how you do a game changing moment. Noah has spent every episode working on his very carefully laid out plan to escape. They solved the problem of getting over the bridge without being seen, forged freedom papers. The only thing not yet completed was placing the hooks under the bridge.

Five days and that would have been finished. All of that work and planning was completely blown out of the water. Good goog-a-moog! (Yes, I really say that.) It’s for moments like this that I have been telling everyone I know to check out this series.

Rosalee and Noah took off, hiding in the wagon that was only available because Zeke had caused it to need repair. Which was the final way that Zeke’s destruction of that wagon moved the story forward.

The Hawkes return home from the Macon plantation to find several people doing some construction work for them. They are making the changes required for the house to be safe for “cargo” passing through. When John’s informed that a new governor has made the process of moving cargo along the railroad more difficult, John offers to do a little snooping during a party at the Governor’s Mansion.

Elizabeth offers an enticing distraction by climbing onto the piano and doing the Can-Can for the other guests, so that John can sneak into the Governor’s office. I was a little startled that she was showing her knickers. It didn’t seem very 19th century to me. They returned home to find an emergency cargo delivery. But when Elizabeth brought food and blankets to them, she found a man with a knife to John’s throat. Welcome to the Underground Railroad!

I cannot wait to see what happens next! What about the rest of the group? Will they just continue with the plan without Noah? Cato is going to LOVE this! How is he going to turn the situation to his advantage? Will he give up the map to the slave catchers? Is there a way to force Wednesday to arrive sooner?

About the Author - Prpleight

Prpleight is a screenwriter and senior software engineer with solid geek cred. When not writing code, screenplays, or watching TV (sometimes she does all three at the same time), she uses her broadsword Bessie to battle evil. She's been a frequent contributor to the SpoilerTV discussion boards for several years now.

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