Pilots are difficult, especially when they have to set up both character and universe. I wasn’t, initially, interested in checking out this show. I was expecting a show that was more interested in its message than its story. Not the case with Underground.
One of the biggest challenges this show faced was the introduction of a fairly sizable cast of characters. Not only do the writers have to establish who “The Macon 7” are, but the family that owns them, the people charged with capturing them, and the members of the Underground Railroad that the series is named for.
During the scenes where Noah is being held, before being returned to his master, I noticed something I hadn’t expected to see: Noah’s intensity as he took in everything going on around him. He was constantly watching and evaluating. This isn’t a man cowed by his lot in life. Noah is a man waiting on his opportunity to change it. Aldis Hodge’s performance in these scenes got me completely hooked.
Noah wasn’t trying to escape when he was captured, but he was looking for the key to a successful escape. He finds it in the form of a coded song that is the map to the Ohio River and freedom.
The show’s creators describe this series as a thriller. This is clear in how Noah approaches the execution of his escape plan. He’s realized that the one thing that he and the other slaves, he was with after being captured, had in common was that they were all alone. He’ll need a team.
But, it turns out, Moses is NOT the one who can read. It’s his wife, Pearly Mae, who is the one who can read. She recognizes the “map” as a song. I learned, when singing in the church choir as a kid, that many of the Negro Spirituals were coded messages for the slave community, so it was nice to see this come into play.
Noah and Henry pick the others they think will help their escape plan succeed. Sam, the plantation carpenter is smart. The only concern is that because he believes he will be able to buy his freedom he may be so concerned with following the rules that he may not be trustworthy.
Last on the list is Zeke. At the beginning of the episode, his first son is born. Sadly, his wife kills the baby, because she can’t bear to raise a child in this world. Zeke is strong and, as Henry points out, he will be able to get rid of any obstacle in their way. His simple statement, during his baby’s funeral, is that ugly death is the only thing for them to look forward to if they stay.
In the last moments of the pilot, Noah reluctantly picks up one more person in his crew. Cato, also a slave, is kind of an Overseer on the plantation. Despite the fact that he’s gotten himself some status on the plantation, he is keenly aware that he is a slave, and he wants in on Noah’s escape plan.
The couple working for the Underground, John and Elizabeth Hawkes, are related to the owner of the plantation The Macon 7 escape from. It’s a little coincidental for me, but it led to a fun scene illustrating a Southern Belle catfight.
John’s brother, Tom Macon, is the owner of the plantation that’s the focus of this episode. He’s a guy who has remade himself into what he needs to be in order to reach the position that would allow him to run for the Georgian senate. He’s even picked up an accent. The estate that has afforded him this opportunity came with his wife, Suzanna. I wonder if and/or how this need to remake himself will play into how he reacts to the coming escape. It definitely makes Tom a more interesting character than any of the rest of his family.
That brings me to the unexpected character in this drama, Christopher Meloni’s August Pullman. I spent the first act of this episode expecting him to be playing a bad guy because of some recent roles I’d seen him in. So I completely bought the good guy persona he presented initially. I was completely taken aback by the twist with his character. August Pullman is smart, devious, charming, and a good husband. I don’t think I believe he’s a good husband anymore. After that twist I’m convinced that telegram scene isn’t as innocent as it looks.
A lot about the set up of this series feels like Prison Break to me. Prison Break was a smart caper story, but the writers did something that I had rarely seen. They made the hero’s foil as smart as the hero. I think that’s what August Pullman is going to bring to Underground. An intelligent foil that will force Noah to keep on his toes to get his group across The Ohio River, several hundred miles away.
I know I’ve gone into a lot of depth about the characters on this show, but I think it was important for this pilot episode to do this. I think they did a great job especially given how many characters we had to meet. They dispelled my concern that this show would feel more like a “socially important” than a compelling story I would be excited to check out week after week. I’m looking forward to seeing how this impending cat and mouse game plays out.
What did you guys think of the pilot? Did it meet your expectations?
