YES. In pacing and style it’s kinda’ similar to what Inglorious Basterds was to the Holocaust. Famous historical figures are used to tell a good fun caper story with yes, some authentic references (The Sewing Circle, “friend of a friend”, Patty Cannon, Harriet Tubman..) …A lot that I haven’t seen in a show or film about slavery before, but the story itself is fictional.I like it mostly because it does what I’ve always wanted to see stories that take place during American enslavement do. Use the time period to tell a good story, period. I am critical of the tired cliche of narratives during enslavement being overly-depressing lectures you expect to see on movie day in class, that you feel like you have to watch because history, but it’s not a fun or investable experience.That’s not to say that it doesn’t have some scenes that are tough to watch, but the tough to watch scenes aren’t the point, they are part of the emotional arc of characters who are so strong and heroic and flawed and interesting that you want to keep seeing and I love that.It’s really about humanizing these historical heroes. Making them the larger than life legends they deserve to be for doing the right thing helping each other to survive such a shitty institution. Rescuing others, speaking out…It’s framed like western archetypes. That journey to freedom in the first season felt like a ragtag band of misfits, a’la the Seven Samurai or The Magnificent Seven.It’s got just the right mix of pulp and truth, while being smart about the storytelling. The excellently chosen modern soundtrack helps to make the story relatable to modern audiences.Throw in all the depth and courage in exploring things like women’s body autonomy via abortion and self-sterilization, intersectional feminism and differences between the challenges of white womanhood and black womanhood, what the concept of “freedom” actually is, how bondage has effected concepts of whiteness, and on and on in this highly watchable framework.Most of the actors are also stellar (Amirah Vann, Alano Miller, and Aisha Hinds are my favorite performers).That’s why Undergound is EVERYTHING.
