Sterling K. Brown’s Hulu Series Is Adequate

From “Kindred” to “Underground” and 2016’s reimagining of “Roots,” television has not shied away from depicting a wide range of stories about enslaved people. As the current presidential administration attempts to suppress history and the truth, platforming these particular narratives for a vast audience has never been more vital. Hulu‘s latest series, “Washington Black,” based on the acclaimed novel by Esi Edugyan and adapted for television by Selwyn Seyfu Hinds, is the latest of these tales. Expansive and spanning multiple countries and continents, “Washington Black” is aesthetically unique with a grand scope. Yet, it falls just short of grasping the magical essence of Edugyan’s words. 

The limited series opens in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1837. The last stop of the Underground Railroad, Halifax, is a haven (relatively) for the formerly enslaved. The narrator, Medwin Harris (Sterling K. Brown), who runs the colored boarding house in town, regales his audience with the story of George Washington “Wash” Black (Ernest Kingsley Jr.), a formerly ensalved man boasting a talent for science and tinkering who, despite his status in society, is determined to save the world. Though Wash is known in town for his work on the docks and his constant trinket-making, in this emancipated land, he goes by a different name: Jack Crockett. 

One day, while working on the docks, Wash encounters Tanna Goff (Iola Evans), who has arrived in Halifax from London with her scientist father, Mr. Goff (Rupert Graves). The attraction between Wash and Tanna is immediate. Unfortunately, the romance is not only forbidden, but personal secrets make their connection even more implausible. Still, against all odds, they carve out secret moments, however fleeting, to find time together.

Despite centering the narrative in Wash’s present, “Washington Black” also carefully unpacks the young man’s origin story. The show rewinds to Barbados in 1829. Working in the brutal sugar cane fields alongside Big Kit (Shaunette Renée Wilson), the woman who raised him, 11-year-old Wash’s (portrayed here by Eddie Karanja) fortunes change upon the arrival of Christopher “Titch’” Wilde (Tom Ellis), his cruel enslaver’s scientist brother. Observing Wash’s intellect, Titch takes the boy under his wing. However, their close-knit bond offends Titch’s brothers, Erasmus (Julian Rhind-Tutt) and Phillip (Chris Patrick-Simpson), making Wash the main target of their ire.

The eight-episode series (critics received four for review) ripples across time and location. While the sequences and scenes in Halifax and Barbados are fascinating and detailed, Wash and Titch’s adventures don’t quite hold the same allure. After the pair leaves the Faith Plantation, they later encounter a pirate ship and find a safe house in Norfolk, Virginia, but the threads of the plot struggle to stay together. The towering stain and terror of slavery and the horrors of racism that loom around the frame of the story make it challenging for audiences to indulge in the adventurous and scientific elements of the show, including the making of and use of Titch’s flying apparatus, the ​​Cloud Cutter. 

Still, Episode 3, “Of Love & Caribbean Rum,” is a standout. As Tanna and Wash grow closer, the series highlights the joys and wonder of new love amid the most perilous obstacles. In contrast, the show spotlights the devastating toll of enslavement and its resulting lifelong mental anguish, even amid personal freedoms and achievements. In the episode, Wash finds himself hunted as a result of a past incident. Not only does it showcase just how elusive freedom was for Black people in 19th-century North America, but it also addresses how unresolved issues echo throughout the Black communities, putting everyone’s life in jeopardy. 

Ultimately, “Washington Black” possesses some intriguing elements. It offers viewers a distinctive purview of chattel slavery and its effects beyond the confines of the antebellum South. However, the more adventurous aspects of the series, including Wash’s travels with Titch and the burgeoning relationship between him and Tanna, feel less grounded. In the end, Edugyan’s sprawling, historical and fantastical tale feels too vast to be condensed into eight episodes of television.

All eight episodes of “Washington Black” premiere July 23 on Hulu.