'Get Millie Black' Deserves More than a Single Limited Series

After four riveting episodes of Get Millie Black, and with the finale arriving over the holiday, will we get a second season? Man Booker Prize-winning novelist Marlon James conceived the limited series, bringing to life a side of Jamaica rarely seen: the turbulent streets of Kingston and its distinct class struggles. Immersing the audience in the culture, James opted for characters to speak Jamaican patois with subtitles rather than forcing an Anglicized language perspective. There’s a refreshing focus on underrepresented voices, particularly in Jamaica’s queer community, with characters telling their own stories. Get Millie Black is James’ first foray into television, and if producers are savvy, this is only the start of his brilliant career on the small screen.

Our journey with police detective Millie-Jean Black (Tamara Lawrance), who’s shown herself to be fierce, passionate, and driven to recklessness, seems headed for an explosive showdown – one that the show has loudly hinted she may not survive. She’s off the rails, alone and without a concrete plan, but nothing will stop her from trying to save Romeo. She’s about to take on an unknown number of human traffickers, but she has no idea how many infiltrators they have in Scotland Yard (other than Holborn). Millie’s woefully unprepared; it’s a recipe for death. Was Janet telling us the truth about Millie dying? Is this a self-sacrifice?

Millie’s deep-seated guilt over Hibiscus’ childhood with their mother fuels her bottomless hunger for redemption. Yet she pushes Hibiscus away while simultaneously seeking that lost child in every case she investigates.