What I’m Watching: Underground

Underground: Season 1, Episode 8 “Grave” (B+)

This was not a good episode for our any of our runaways, all of whom are standing to look like they’re not going to make it to safety after all. John giving Ernestine good tidings of Rosalee’s whereabouts was the first false sign that things were okay, and then when Rosalee and Cato stole nice clothes to fit in as wealthy freemen, things were looking incredibly up. That the kind, architecturally-inclined doctor happened to be the sheriff’s brother seemed like an awful coincidence, but Rosalee’s piano playing and ability to read saved the day. Noah is a force to be reckoned with even when he’s feverish and completely unaware of the fact that he’s chasing after a hallucination, and Cato caught up to him, but in the process Rosalee got apprehended. I don’t see the story ending there, and obviously with two episodes left in the season it won’t, but at this moment things are very disconcerting. The worst fate of all was reserved for Sam, who got caught running away and then nearly had his ability to walk taken away permanently. Tom’s decision to spare him that fate seemed like a true act of compassion, and that made the horrifying reveal that he was already dead and hanging below Tom’s passionate campaign speech all the more horrendous. John’s response to Tom expressing his disappointment that he was not there to support him was harsh and appropriate, since even if he wasn’t using his home as a stop on the Underground Railroad, he doesn’t morally approve of the way that Tom lives.