Washington Black

Came for Sterling K Brown, stayed hoping the series would get better. It didn't.

I'll preface this by saying I haven't read the book, and am interested in doing so based on many reviews saying how the series deviated so far from the source material.

As a child who grew up in the south in an evangelical home, I was sheltered from stories of the realities of what slavery and the experiences of black people was and is like in North America. That said, this is the type of tedious series I would have been allowed to watch. Ultimately this series felt as if it was directed by someone hell-bent on watering down what could have been a really compelling story, like it was meant for kids. If that was intentional, well done. It was bland and inoffensive.

Aside from that, to me the series felt amateurish from the start. I have a hard time sticking with series or movies where over acting is obvious and dialog seems forced, and that was the case. I hoped it would get better by the end but it was consistently bland. Without a spoiler, I did have a moment near the end of the last episode that made me teary eyed, immediately followed by a montage at the end that made me cringe again.

I was looking forward to this series. I didn't read the whole novel but informed myself about the plot and it seemed like great material for a series.

Watching the series just feels weird...I can't really pin it down to one thing...it feels slow, often boring, the acting feels strange and although it must have a significant budget if feels kind of cheap most of the time (if you decide to develop the plot in a slow, boring manner you could at least put more details into the atmosphere and aesthetics by showing more of the beautiful places where the series take place; a good example of this could be the new Netflix series Untamed which takes place in Yosemite national park and really integrated this into the whole vibe).

It just doesn't draw me in...maybe it's just not for me but the other negative reviews overlap in some points of criticism, so it's probably not just me.

This show has mystery, adventure and heart. The characters all have time to grow and oh the places this story will go. From the deserts of Africa, to the Caribbean Islands to the far north. Wasn't expecting much, saw Sterling K Brown was in it so I gave it a go. For a limited serious this knocked it out of the park for me. Can't wait to rewatch it one day. Great show!

Washington Black is visually spectacular - Barbados, Victorian London, Moroccan deserts, icy Antarctica - the show looks like a globe-trotting epic with a massive budget. But the writing doesn't rise to the same level. The tone is oddly childish for a story about slavery and identity, and the logic often stretches belief (a child from Barbados tracked across continents in the 1800s?).

Eddie Karanja is fantastic as young Wash, and McGee adds rare complexity. It's also refreshing to see free Black characters portrayed as artists and leaders, not just victims. The love story is simple but sincere. Titch feels like a caricature, and Willard has Chuck Norris plot armor.

Gorgeous to watch. Frustrating to follow.

Intriguing yarn about a boy and his destiny, although I found the adventures of young Washington Black the better of the two narratives.

I appreciate what the writers tried to do but the pacing of the older Washington storyline is uneven, and the leads have an immiscible chemistry.

On a technical level, the cinematography and special effects are movie quality, where it's really difficult to spot the seams. All-in-all, a remarkable achievement in today's tv industry where technical quality takes a backseat.