What I’m Watching: Underground

Underground: Season 1, Episode 5 “Run and Gun” (B+)

In the aftermath of the big escape, things are actually relatively calm back on the plantation. While Tom might not be a considered a violent man, he is a careful and methodical one, who is all for investing the time in figuring out a strategy that can best crack those around him. Handing a loaded gun to one of his slaves was bold, but that’s part of his charm - if he trusts them that much, they’re going to prove their loyalty back to him as a result or reveal their treachery in that moment. The sight of Pearly Mae in the stocks was a disturbing one, and being put in a nice dress only to be spoken down to by an impatient Suzanna, whose blood relation to her only made it all worse. Having Ernestine slit her wrists at the end of the episode was about the most peaceful resolution she could have hoped for, which is really a shame. Zeke also met his end in this episode, after a tremendous show of power and strength. It’s great that Rosalee realized that August’s charms were all lies, but it’s too bad that she told him what their plan was before that. I wrote a while ago that I didn’t know this would work as a regular weekly series, and I definitely didn’t expect that we’d be seeing slaves running on top of a train station dodging bullets from a slave hunter’s gun. We didn’t see John and Elizabeth at all in this hour, and I suspect that, before long, they’ll end up playing host to our friends on the run, which should create one hell of an awkward situation.