Underground caught me off guard tonight! This is definitely not another rendition of Roots or any other televised production of slavery. By the end of the show I knew exactly why it had that mature audience warning, including for sexuality. More on that later. But even beyond that, its use of music takes the story to another level. It draws me deeper into the story line. Something about the use of today's music allows the story to grab a hold of my emotions in ways a typical score might not. With The Weekend playing in the background as Rosalee and Noah shared there only scene together at the end of the episode I realized I'm not just crushing on Noah, but I'm totally falling for them as a couple! And I love how the show is able to build up Noah and Rosalee's relationship in a way that's not forced or rushed, despite them having few scenes together. And I have to appreciate that they are staying true to what likely would have been Noah and Rosalee's experience as a field slave and a house slave. They wouldn't have many opportunities to interact with each other. Though their dialogue together is short, it is clear they truly get each other and will be a powerful duo.
The episode also gave a glimpse into the different lives of the different classes of Whites. We see the overseer interacting with Tom Macon and the men financially supporting his campaign for the Senate. An interesting note from Tom's conversation with these men is how he received the plantation from his father-in-law who didn't initially approve of him. The most interesting part to me, which actually stood out to me on the first episode when he had a different last name from his brother John Hawkes, was that Tom took on his wife's maiden name. Perhaps this is related to him taking on his father-in-law's plantation. Another interesting scene, unlike Suzanna and her friends discussion about the north versus the south in the last episode, Tom and these men discussed the south versus Egypt and India, in regards to selling cotton to England. One even commented that Egypt invented slavery. Which of course made me think of the people who like to say Africans had slaves too. #SideEye
We also see a White merchant who sells things to both the overseer and the slaves. There is some informality in the way the slaves speak to the merchant, at least when compared to how they would speak to Tom and his guests. Also, this merchant gave Moses his Bible, which is why Noah decides to barter with him. He offered to fix his wagon in exchange for paper and a pen. Though the merchant gave some push back, saying they would tar and feather Noah and then do the same to him upon finding out he's the one who sold it to him, we later see he did in fact make the exchange, when Noah nearly gets busted by the overseer as he was working on the wagon.
Luckily, Cato was in the area being nosy, and he helped Noah get away with it. But not before suggesting to the overseer that he should check Noah for contraband he may have received from the merchant. This of course led to the overseer making Noah strip all the way down (and no, this is not the main reason the episode received an MA rating). While Noah is stripping, Cato picks up the jug of alcohol Noah claimed he was getting in exchange for working on the merchant's wagon. When Cato pulled the cork he found the paper and pen, but he still didn't turn Noah in. He told the overseer he would carry it back, and while walking back with Noah who has just about had it with Cato and his shenanigans, Cato tells him he does these things to show Noah he's not the one in charge. Cato is also frustrated because he wants Noah to fill him in on the entire plan, not just parts of it. These two's power struggle continues throughout the episode and will likely continue throughout the series, assuming Cato actually goes with them. Cato is good at being for and against Noah and the others, and it's hard to tell where he truly lies. Sure he always ends on their side, like when he told Tom they found the wagon where Noah said it was, but perhaps it's all a big ploy to gain their trust until he learns their full plan and sets them up. And even if he doesn't plan on setting them up, this power struggle between him and Noah can't be good for the group.
This episode gives a bigger glimpse into the life of August. He has several scenes in this episode, all around his home. I don't think I've heard him say the name of his Black friend/partner/?, and I can't find a name online. But the actor is Clarke Peters from The Wire. So I'm going to call him Peter, until further notice. LOL. So here's what we found out about Peter, August, and August's son Ben. They are broke, and that's why August is a slave catcher. At least that's the excuse he gives Peter when Peter suggests he needs to spend more time with Ben after August seemed set to leave again on the trail of a runaway who stole their chickens and eggs. In this discussion we learn that Peter has been with August his whole life, and though Peter doesn't think August's wife will be coming back home from the hospital (as evidenced by his suggestion to sell her ring), August thinks she will (as evidenced by him refusing to sell her ring under the reasoning that she will wear it when she returns home). When August goes in and tells Ben he's taking him hunting, I think the audience and Peter thought August was taking his son to hunt a runaway slave. And it wasn't until they walked up to the wolf Ben shot that you realize August didn't just teach Ben how to shoot a human. However, after seeing more footprints of the runaway, August instructs Ben to carry the wolf by himself back home. August then goes to find the runaway, making me wonder is it really just about the money or does this man have an addiction of some sort. When August finally encounters the runaway a fight ensues, and unbeknownst to August Ben has returned and is looking on as August ends up stabbing the runaway to death. Ben makes a noise, and when August looks up and sees him, Ben runs back home. When August returns to the house, Ben immediately gets up from gutting the wolf he shot and walks into the other room to wash his hands. August follows him and begins to wash the blood off of his own hands. Ben's innocence is officially gone. Might as well had told him they were going to kill the horse in the last episode after what he just witnessed his father do. The episode certainly embodies how the show's website describes August, "walk[ing] a tightrope between morality and survival."
Meanwhile, in Philadelphia John and Elizabeth have gone to a seedy hotel to meet with William Stiller. When they enter the room, William is not there. So they have a seat across from a large crate. There's a thud and then the crate busts open. A dead runaway slave woman falls out, and behind her a runaway slave man who is still alive. When William arrives he mentions that runaways are trying this method after hearing the recent story of Henry Brown. The Philadelphia scenes seem to be full of history nuggets. Last episode it was Dred Scott, this episode it's Henry "Box" Brown. If you haven't heard his story, google it! Soon after, White men come into the room looking for a runaway slave, having heard about the large crate that was in the room. John attempts to block them from entering the office where William was talking to the runaway slave, proclaiming they needed a warrant, but they pushed him aside. The runaway slave was hiding in the floor, a trick the men seemed to be somewhat on to, as one of them was thrusting a blade into the floor, just missing the runaway's head, as the others checked the papers of the freedmen in the room. They left, but Elizabeth informed William and John that she spotted them waiting outside the hotel. The three come up with a plan to prevent them from capturing the runaway and in turn arresting them for breaking the Fugitive Slave Act (another history nugget from Philly). They waited for night, and then Elizabeth went across the street to the police station. Then the slave ran outside. The men ran upon him and began beating him and John when John came out and tried to stop them. When the police came the men asked that John be arrested for helping a runaway, but John flipped it by pointing out they were beating a freedman, not a runaway, and should be arrested. It turned out it wasn't the runaway that ran out of the hotel, it was William in the runaway's clothes. When the police saw William's papers they arrested the men. As John said, they used the law to break the law! And thus begins John and Elizabeth's journey as abolitionists!
Back on the plantation, Noah and the other men are working on the plan to runaway. They don't quite have the song decoded, though Moses understood the last part of the song that was referring to crossing the Ohio River. Noah talks to Moses about writing up papers for them in case they are stopped, hence the need for the paper and pen Noah received from the merchant. Moses has Pearly Mae draft the papers (though they still need Tom's seal, which will come up in the next episode). Then Moses tells her to draft two additional papers for her and their daughter Boo. When Pearly Mae tells him Boo would be too small to keep up, he reveals to her a strap he created to carry Boo himself. Noah talks to Sam about how they'll be able to get past the terrain, like perhaps building a boat. And he discusses stealing a gun with Henry. Noah ends up stealing a gun with Cato, but more on that in a bit.
In the big house, we see that Rosalee is just as disconnected from the other house girls as she is from the field slaves. When they are all excited about the plantation dance they'll be attending, Rosalee seems disinterested. One of the girls even suggests to the others that Rosalee thinks she's too good for the party. Though at the last minute, Rosalee ends up attending, and later that evening at the party she shares her one scene with Noah where The Weekend cues up and they walk towards each other to dance. He compliments her on her ribbon, and she tells him she now gets why he has tattoos over his "pain." It's about making his story his own and not letting the White people define his story. And then he looks at her like in that moment she completely got who he was and simply says, "Run with me." And the episode appropriately ends there. BUT...I'm going to have to backtrack to recap a few scenes. I mean, we haven't even gotten to why the episode was rated MA for sexuality.
So Rosalee asked her mother if she ever thought about what life would be like outside of the plantation, obviously thinking about life as a free woman. Ernestine said yes she thought about what life could be like, but she had different visions. Visions of having to work in the field or being sent to a breeding plantation where they would make her have babies for them to sell off. Then she tells Rosalee that's why she does what she has to do to make things as easy as possible for her and her children. And we soon learned what exactly she had to do. While Rosalee was serving Tom and the men funding his campaign, the men began to talk about sleeping with slave women. One man began to touch Rosalee as he talked about it, until Ernestine walked in and reminded Tom he wanted to serve a particular wine to his guests. Rosalee is able to then walk out of the room. Moments later Tom goes into the cellar where he finds, and it should be noted expectantly finds, a naked Ernestine waiting on him. The scene goes slightly Fifty Shades of Grey with Ernestine being the dominant one of the two. She is seemingly seducing him, and makes him say he won't send her son James to the field (earlier in the episode Suzanna told T.R. there would be no point in getting a horse for James, because he'd soon be working in the field). Though Ernestine put on a convincing act for Tom, while they are having sex her face confirms she is only doing this to protect her family and is not getting any pleasure out of it.
But that isn't the only rated MA scene in this episode. There's also the scene where Noah and Cato steal a gun. At the plantation party, Noah tells Cato that Bare Back Shaw, an older White widow, doesn't host these parties for slaves out of the goodness of her heart. At some point in the night she chooses one of the slaves to sleep with. Noah then shares his experiences with her with Cato after telling him she always chooses him when he comes to the plantation parties. And we see her going down on her knees in front of Noah, and the shadow of the two having sex, as well. And Noah has a face similar to Ernestine's face with Tom. It's a different take on sex with slaves. It's not the typical narrative of the rape without consent by the slave master (though an argument can certainly be made that in the case of Noah it was rape...and perhaps even one for Ernestine even if she was playing the role of aggressor), nor was it a Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings type of narrative. And then it took it a step further by having it also take place between an older white woman and a slave. Like Ernistine, Noah made the sexual desires of the slave owner work to his benefit. Ernestine used it to attempt to keep her son out of the field, and Noah used it to steal a gun that belonged to the woman's deceased husband. Though Noah told Cato she always picks him, Cato was the one that ended up being chosen shortly after saying he didn't know how Noah could do it. Noah tells him he forgot to mention she tends to like the lighter ones like Cato. I suspect he set it up for Cato to be chosen as payback, and that would explain his side conversation with the woman's slave who retrieves the chosen slave. Cato went through with it as Noah stole the gun, but he wasn't very pleased with the situation. They ended up getting in a fight until Noah pulled the gun on Cato and made Cato say whether he was in or out with the plan.
Underground still has my full attention, even if WGN made us sit through commercials this time. Looking forward to the next episode and seeing Rosalee get involved in the plan to run!