The Whimsical 'Washington Black' is Flawed But Still Worth Watching

While watching Washington Black, the new Hulu series that debuted with all eight episodes at once, I couldn’t shake the feeling that everyone involved felt they were doing very important work. To be clear, historical dramas, even fantastical ones like Washington Black, are important. They give the viewers context for our past, can reframe our thinking and open our minds to worlds beyond our front door. However, if the series’ vibe is “we are doing something important here,” that can lead to a detached feeling in the viewer, a problem that plagues what should be a spectacular series.

The characters and what they experience are vitally significant (especially considering the current state of our world). But, in the four episodes made available for review, the characters never truly become fully realized people, hindered not so much by the performances (which are outstanding for the most part) but by the structural narrative and whimsical storytelling devices that fall short.

Based on the hit 2018 novel of the same name by Esi Edugyan, the series follows 11-year-old Washington “Wash” Black (Eddie Karanja), a young slave working on a plantation in Barbados in the early 1800s. Over the course of the series, he makes the journey from Barbados to Norfolk, Virginia, and then to Halifax, Nova Scotia, the final stop on the Underground Railroad.