Disclaimer: Spoilers for this season of Ava DuVernay and OWN's "Queen Sugar" after the jump! If you haven't seen it, do not click any further (until you've seen it, then definitely read)!
Brilliant. Breathtaking. Powerful. Gorgeous. Just a few of the words I tend to overuse while speaking of this show. On the surface, directing-wise, Queen Sugar is one of the most beautiful shows on television right now. One of the standout shots included Nova (Rutina Wesley), at her father's funeral, looking back Calvin (Greg Vaughan), the man she's having an affair yet, and the brightness of the sunset shines past her face into the camera lense. Ava DuVernay is a visionary. The cinematography is purely outstanding. Blow up any shot from this show and it's a gorgeous poster. But Queen Sugar is a lot more than just a pretty to look at show. The story, and everything about it is just so rich, pure and, well, black as hell.
The visuals may draw you in, but it's the characters that make you want to stay. We're introduced to the three children of Ernest Bordelon (Glynn Turman). Free-spirit Nova, who happens to be having an affair with a married cop (despite being a journalist/activist calling cops out). Ralph Angel (Kofi Siriboe), father of Blue (Ethan Hutchison) having to deal with his recovering drug addict baby mama. And Charley (Dawn-Lyen Gardner), married to and managing her famous basketball player husband, who is caught in a scandal regarding sexual assault charges against a woman. They all come together after their father's death and try to run his sugar farm. We're also introduced to Aunt Vi (Tina Lifford), Ernest's sister, and her boyfriend, Hollywood (Omar J. Dorsey). Seeings these characters grow throughout the course of this season is surely something. 
While all the characters do go through a prominent journey, Charley's is one of the most fascinating to watch. We're introduced to her as Davis' (wife/manager, a savvy business type, an asset to the family trying to run of their dad's farm. But the power goes to her head and she goes from a concerned daughter into, well, a power hungry daughter looking to turn her dad's life work into an "empire" (correctly put by Ralph Angel). By the end of the season she's scheming like it's Olivia Pope season. Nova's powerful storyline with Too Sweet was the stepping stone in a bigger issue dealing with the fact that black men are targeted and thrown in jail for a body count for the prisons to make more money off of them. The way her activism and her relationship with Calvin all reach a climax in one of her final scenes of the scene where she's spat at by a white cop is heartbreaking. Perhaps one of my favorite character decisions comes from a subplot where Ralph Angel allows his son, Blue, to play with a Barbie doll named Kenya. Instead of telling Blue, and essentially the audience, that it's a "girl's" toy and shaming him for it, Ralph Angel encourages him to play with her because he's a child and he's allowing him to be just that, a child. It's rare to see a black father depicted in such a way that makes it all the more touching of a little storyline.
Lee Daniels once called it "insulting" to have white writers write for black characters. This is not the case here. From the language to the little quirks the characters develop saying their lines, it's just so refreshing to see Aunt Vi and Hollwood's flirting and banter in the Pilot episode on the porch. The little moments like this balance out the bolder moments of the show (i.e. Charley dramatically storming off to confront Davis on the court, Aunt Vi publicly discovering Hollywood's marriage). Everything about this show is rooted in family, perfectly captures in a scene from the pilot where the three generations of Bordelon men are together on Ernest's hospital bed. Again, beautifully shot and marvelously acted. Another standout moment from the series comes from Nova's displeasure of Charley waltzing in and hiring a crew for the repast. In an absolutely stellar moment for Rutina Wesley, Nova breaks down and scolds Charley for trying to mess with their cultural way of saying goodbye to the dead and dealing with the grieving.To say this show is plot driven wouldn't be necessarily wrong, but I think it's more character driven. Each decision these characters make have consequences, and start moving the chains for the bigger picture at whole. The revelation of the Bordelon's being owned by the Landrys/Bourdreauxs was shocking, but kept in line with the show thematically. Nothing ever feels as if it happens just to shock us or happens without feeling warranted or without consequence. 
That's not to say the show is absolutely perfect. Some characters could use a little more development/screen time. Micah (Nicholas L. Ashe) isn't necessarily annoying, but at this point if you subtracted him out of the show I would barely notice. He still just feels like a 2 dimensional character there to be the glue between Charley and Davis. Darla, on the other hand, is a hard nut to crack. She's definitely been focused on, development wise. Her apology/thankfulness to Vi and Hollywood was her shining moment where a lot of us really started to root for her. It's hard not to root for her. We don't see her at her lowest point. All we see is a mother trying to get the father of her son to trust her enough to come back into her son's life. Something's brewing there, however. I can't tell if Darla's behavior in the last few episodes is her being strong-willed, or controlling. Maybe this is what Aunt Vi means when she tells Ralph Angel she's bad for him. Hopefully it's something they confront head on in season two.
Where Queen Sugar excels is not trying too hard. It doesn't try too hard to have the next jaw dropping moment, or the next hash tag, it just lets the show be. Letting the story be, letting the characters be. It's something we're missing on television right now. A realistic, natural show that happens to be centered around black people. It's something we need. Something that humanizes us artistically and boldly. How rare is it to see a black woman portrayed realistically as struggling with bipolar disorder on television? Too often TV these days tries to be our next obsession. The next high concept spy show, or the next Empire, the next Scandal, but Queen Sugar succeeds because it's rooted in finding it's footing in realness.
SEASON ONE GRADE: A-
No comments:
Post a Comment