The Underground Railroad
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The Underground Railroadopens with a sequence that feels like a dream.
The camera glides up to her.
She stares the camera down, and it slinks away.
Its as if she is looking the viewer in the face, knowing we are watching her.
Its an affirmation that this will beherstory.
Its a stunning and poetic sequence yet one tinged with sadness.
The most pleasurable image inThe Underground Railroadspremiere is one of escape.
The camera tracks her and Caesar (Aaron Pierre) as they run across a field.
Then, no longer in slow motion, Cora catches back up to Caesar and grabs his outstretched hand.
This story begins on a day of celebration.
Its the elderly Jockeys birthday, and those enslaved on the Randall plantation are eating and singing.
Terrance strikes the boy with his cane until Cora runs to protect him.
We see him sprinting into a darkened forest, hopefully to not be seen again.
Im heading back North, he says.
The promise wasnt kept.
Aint been right since.
To make matters worse, the storys main antagonist arrives.
He is returning Big Anthony to pay a debt he owes the family.
He never recovered one runaway in particular: Coras mother.
Upon learning that she has a daughter, Ridgeway asks to meet her.
He has an unsettling fixation with her, the gall to psychoanalyze her.
Theres anger in you, he tells her.
Best find a way to do away with that.
Itll eat you alive if you dont.
when Terrance holds up a Bible as justification.
But then, the flames.
Its upsetting, and its infuriating, but it serves a purpose.
This awful scene is what makes Cora and Caesar finally commit to leave.
Its an image that will stick with them, as well as the viewer, as they journey on.
Its time, Caesar says, his hand on Coras.
Lovey is dragged away, and Cora and Caesar fight off the men atop them.
Just look outside as you speed through and youll see the true face of America.
But the train is underground; if Cora looks outside, all shell see of America is darkness.
The Caboose
The song played in the closing credits is B.O.B.
Bombs Over Baghdad, by Outkast, off their albumStankonia.
Chapter 1: Georgia was written by Jenkins (one of only two episodes penned solely by him).
Jenkins directs each installment.
Whiteheads novel is playful with time, not set in a distinct year.
That seems to be carried through in the show.
Thats what Barry has done here.
Caesar knows how to read and does so for comfort.
In the episode, he reads fromGullivers Travels(equipped with its full-length title).
Fletcher says, All who journey on the railroad must be documented on the manifest.
How else will we account for the souls entrusted to this campaign?
Storytelling and archiving feel important to the plot here.
