Washington Black is a sweeping Hulu limited series adapted from Esi Edugyan's acclaimed 2018 novel, a coming-of-age adventure that carries its hero from bondage to the far corners of the globe. Ernest Kingsley Jr. stars as the adult George Washington “Wash” Black, a boy born into slavery on a Barbados sugar plantation whose prodigious scientific gifts are recognized by an eccentric abolitionist inventor. When a death forces him to flee, Wash embarks on an odyssey across oceans and continents that transforms him from fugitive to scientist, artist, and explorer.
Sterling K. Brown, who also executive produces, plays Medwin Harris, a charismatic community leader in Halifax whose role is expanded from the novel, while Eddie Karanja plays the younger Wash and Tom Ellis, Iola Evans, and Sharon Duncan-Brewster fill out the cast. Told across dual timelines and multiple continents, the series pairs the propulsive momentum of a nineteenth-century adventure yarn with a thoughtful meditation on freedom, identity, and who gets to author their own story.
Adapting a novel that won Canada's Giller Prize and was shortlisted for the Booker, the series reaches for the grandeur of classic adventure storytelling while centering a Black hero's journey toward self-invention. Lavishly mounted and spanning locations from the Caribbean to the Arctic, Washington Black streams on Hulu.
The pretty young Cassie Scerbo (Make It or Break It, CSI: Spring Breakdown) knows very well how to play snobbish and mean. She even says it's absolutely fun to be that never boring and totally spicy character. Proclaiming herself to be the "Queen of the Beam" in her high school, Amber Pollack (Scerbo) is confident to a fault. Amber Pollack is also deceased! Apparently she died after a freakish accident on prom night but must come to the aid of a rather unpopular girl named Lisa, played by Lindsey Shaw (Pretty Little Liars) before she can ascend to heaven. Tim Gunn (The Smurfs, Sex and the City 2) is an angel who gives Amber Pollack the orders to help out the less than popular young girl and give her the self confidence to go on and become the new prom queen. As she works on Lisa's personality she finds some of her own worse qualities are becoming part of Lisa's own dreadful qualities and comes to realize she was a truly poor human being before she died.
That may well be the title to a dream sequence by some brilliant but unqualified attorney "want to be's" who can only imagine how they could accomplish what Mike Ross has done. He bluffed his way in by convincing Harvey Specter, one of the finest lawyers in Manhattan to hire him in spite of the fact he has no law degree. Although Ross is brilliant and extremely personable he could not afford the schooling and his choices in friends and recreational drugs did not help his situation. However he can pass the bar without attending any law school simply because he has an eidetic memory. Now clean and dedicated to becoming a first rate attorney, Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams from FlashForward, Raising the Bar) must prove himself to the man who put his trust in and hired him, Harvey Specter (played by Gabriel Macht from Love and Other Drugs, Middle Men). Mike Ross must convince the other attorneys he graduated from the Harvard Law school because that's the only place they hire new recruits from. And he is a fast learner who's wit and conviction works well in the court room.
What do most single ladies want out of life? They want a stable man who will allow them to do their "thing" and make a career that is as fulfilling as their relationships. We all want happiness and completion in our lives and these fine ladies have their own great jobs going for them, they just need the right man to complete them. Val Stokes (Stacey Dash of House Arrest, Close Quarters) wants to be a fashion mogul and owns a fashion boutique in Atlanta. April Goldberg-Jenkins (Charity Shea from Toxic, Primal Scream) who is married to Darryl for the past seven years has the desire to become an executive with A&R records, a move up from being the record label owner's assistant. But her marriage may be getting in the way. Keisha Green is played by LisaRaye McCoy (Beauty Shop, All of Us) has performed in music videos and wants romance in her life. Each of these single ladies has their own agenda regarding their love life and it's fun to watch as they try and fail then pick themselves up and try again.
Marti Perkins lost her scholarship to Lancer Universities law school and finds she must get one some other way. Cheerleading can provide just the financial boost for her pre-law schooling she needs in the way of a scholarship. Along the way she befriends the team cheerleading captain (Savannah Monroe) who becomes her roommate. Vanessa Lodge (played by Sharon Leal from Dreamgirls) is the cheerleaders coach who has high hopes of winning the national championship. Gail O'Grady (NYPD Blue) is Wanda Perkins, mother of Marti and an embarrassment to her daughter quite often with behavior more expectant of a young child. Marti Perkins is played by Aly Michalka (Easy A, Bandslam), a determined young woman who is wise beyond her years and dedicated to becoming an attorney at any cost. Ashley Tisdale (High School Musical, Aliens in the Attic) is coach of the cheerleading team Savannah Monroe and when Marti comes applies to join up realizes the able young woman is just what the team needs to get into and ultimately win the cheerleading finals. This comedy drama ultimately shows how dedication and hard work will pay off big time!
Two half brothers (same father) begin their relationship by hating each other but bond and become best friends through teamwork and learning the truth about their father. Lucas Scott is played by Chad Michael Murray (House of Wax, Home of the Brave) who is recruited onto the basketball team by Coach Durham (played by Barry Corbin from Urban Cowboy & Monte Walsh). Lucas proves to be a talented player and starts out as a rival of his own half brother, Nathan Scott (James Lafferty from A Season on the Brink & Get Real). But soon the brothers learn to care for and respect each other while finding out their father Dan Scott (Paul Johansson from The Drew Carey Show & The District) is the natural father of Lucas yet he never claimed to be. As in real life, the characters on One Tree Hill have their ups and downs relationship wise and when they make mistakes they must pay for them somehow. Each season brings up more interesting reflections on family and life in high school, college, and ultimately after they have become adults proving we all need time to reflect on what we want in our lives.
Haven't we all wondered if we had perhaps been switched at birth when we disagreed with our parents? Now how about if it turns out that the hospital actually did switch babies, purely by accident? And the families don't find out until the children are teenagers. Bay Kennish (played by Vanessa Marano from Without a Trace and the Gilmore Girls) has a high school project that includes learning about blood types and she inadvertently finds out her parents blood types do no match hers, showing she absolutely cannot be related to either of them. The family has their DNA tested and confirms the results Bay has come up with in school. Finding that the hospital made a huge error by mixing up the babies, they find the other child and discover how different her life is. Lea Thompson (Back to the Future Trilogy) is Bay's stay at home mom Kathryn and her father, John is played by D.W. Moffett (Friday Night Lights). Bay's new found sister is Daphne (Katie Leclerc from Veronica Mars) who unfortunately suffered deafness due to a case of meningitis as a young child. Daphne, her mother, and grandmother have a hard life and soon the Kennishes invite them to live in their guest house. Deaf actress Marlee Matlin also stars as friend of Daphne's mom, Regina.
Those familiar with Law & Order will appreciate the concept of approaching legal cases from more than one perspective. In The Whole Truth we see each case from both the prosecution and the defense angles so have an opportunity to decide whether a defendant is guilty or innocent judging by the evidence presented to us and to a judge and jury. One memorable episode includes the addition of Judd Hirsch (Taxi) to the cast as a beloved judge who has been charged in a murder. Seems he approved a wiretap on a dangerous drug lord before it turned into a far larger problem involving federal charges. Rob Morrow (Numb3rs, Northern Exposure) portrays Jimmy Brogan is the prosecuting attorney for the state of New York (actually the filming was done in Los Angeles, California) and Maura Tierney (ER) is Kathryn Peale a strong advocate of personal and legal rights for her clients. The two attorneys are on opposite sides of the courtroom in each episode and we must decide who we think has the upper edge or who puts on the best case for their clients, then we see the results in the finale.
