Underground

By no means is this a bad show. Binge worthy, even. But the historical side is awful. There are surely some cliches, some eye rolling lines given, but not a single historically accurate piece of clothing or behavior. The main female lead abolitionist alters between 1890 California elite and 1930 Berlin. On the whole, it's ok

Underground is a classic escape drama with an historical look at the U.S. in the pre-Civil War period. There is a wealth of interesting characters on both sides of the Mason-Dixon line, including a pair of brothers, one of whom is a slave owner (Reed Diamond) and the other who is a new-born abolitionist (Marc Blucas). The focus of the drama is on seven slaves who escape and try to go 600 miles from Georgia to Kentucky.

The series has all sorts of twists and turns, and the action switches back and forth from the slaves on the run, to the plantation, to the abolitionists. Along the way we get a good picture of life at the time.

The music and photography are superior, and the acting is very good. It's really hard to single out any one of the many wonderful actors who contribute to the story, some of whom play minor roles (Johnny Ray Gill, Mykelti Williamson) and others who are featured throughout (Christopher Meloni, Amirah Vann).

This is an excellent mini-series and I'm looking forward to the next season.

The premise is great. The underground railway, the people that escaped slavery and those that helped and hindered them. This is an era and perspective little explored on tv. Unfortunately, it is treated too much like a teen drama (even some of the cast is familiar as such). Over loud and nonsensical music choices have you reaching for the volume every few minutes. It is sanitised and silly rather than gritty and engaging. The shame is that tv drama is many people's only exposure to history - and this is not teaching the viewer anything. It is moderately entertaining though and well acted for the most part - just watch with the sound down!

The music, some of the editing and language are all wrong. This is a historical piece but the music and sound statements are thoroughly modern and therefore out of place and time. The same can be said for the modern quick jump editing in some of the scenes. These are completely at home in a modern drama but only distract in this period piece. Language is another problem. Would someone in the 1850s really say "it doesn't look like there was any forced entry"? I think not. This is a modern Law & Order appropriate statement that does not fit. These inconsistencies don't ruin the series for me, they just make it harder to concentrate and enjoy the story.

This show is a must see, the acting the storyline the music is all 10s across the board. This is not your typical slave TV show. It shows the strength and the courage that both the slaves had and those that helped along the railroad. The show makes you rally for the slaves and leaves you on the edge of your seat when you think they may get caught. It shows how intelligent the slaves had to be to run and find ways to communicate with each other without writing or having the current forms of communication. The only downside I have seen with this show is that there are only 10 episodes although for a first season that is good but I would have liked there to be at least 15 or more. I truly hope it gets picked up for a second season.