I loved the premise of this series; but I thought the execution really lost track of what could have been a compelling story.
What I thought the series was going to examine was black porters, many combat veterans from World War I, seeking to unionize and gain fair wages and treatment while working on the railroads.
Instead, it became sort of a three-headed monster that took almost all the focus away from that premise. We spend the majority of the show following one of the porters working with a Chicago mobster on a gambling endeavor, a dancer in an interracial relationship with the buffoonish son of the railroad owner in a quest to blossom her career, and a nurse working to improve the lives of black citizens who becomes entangled in a house of ill-repute.
The side-stories had some interest for me and the acting is fairly good for the most part; but the main story of racism and unionization is left to fight for scraps.
I wish they spent more time on the porters in their jobs and the struggles they faced. When it did focus on that, I was largely interested. When it strayed, I found my attention wandering.
It really just lost track of what the story was about, IMO.
