Prime Video’s newest series, Clean Slate, is a heartfelt personification of the phrase, “Sometimes you have to go backward to move forward.” Executive produced by the late Norman Lear, the eight episodes of Season 1 follow Desiree (Laverne Cox), a transwoman who returns home to Mobile, Alabama, after her life in New York doesn’t go as planned.
Desiree’s sudden homecoming ignites a soul-searching journey for her father, Harry (George Wallace), an old-school car wash owner. With the addition of friends, foes, neighbors and unexpected love interests, Clean Slate is a hilarious but touching story about how everyone deserves a chance to get it right the second time around.
Welcome home, Desiree
In the first episode of Clean Slate, viewers see Harry’s life turned upside down when he opens the door, hoping to welcome his son, Desmond, home. Instead, he is met by his daughter, Desiree. Due to their 23-year disconnect, the bottled-up emotions come to a head as Harry has to learn how to cope with his child’s transition.
“I didn’t understand where she was coming from, and I had to learn,” Wallace, a series co-creator along with Cox and Dan Ewen, told Blavity’s Shadow and Act of his character in a recent interview. “I have to be educated, and I think other people will learn and be educated with me — learn how to live and let live and, and, and really enjoy life because you can be stubborn. That would have been the exact situation with a Southern father,” the Atlanta native added.
The pronoun jar
As series creator and executive producer, Cox used her upbringing in Mobile, Alabama, as a reference point for Desiree.
“My childhood, I was bullied, I was chased home from school every day, and I wasn’t protected, like Desiree. But it’s never too late to have a happy childhood; if you do the work as an adult, you can heal,” she said.
In the series, Desiree introduces her father to meditation, clean eating and the funny financial consequences of misgendering her. Cox revealed that their characters’ roller coaster of emotions and trials resembled her relationship with her mother.
“That line, ‘I worked; I put food on the table,’ that’s what my mother said to me my entire life,” Cox said of her mother. “She never disowned me. My mom would have loved me no matter what. But her process took a little longer.”
Being open to something new
One major arc of the show is how Desiree’s appearance affects everyone around her. She inspires her childhood friend to live in his truth and come out of the closet; she teaches a single, formerly incarcerated father how to see his overachieving daughter for who she is and sparks a level of tolerance in a small town where being different could be more than taboo; it could be dangerous.
“Trans kids specifically are less likely to be suicidal if their parents accept them, even if they’re bullied in schools,” Cox said.
Her statement is supported by a 2022 study conducted by The Trevor Report that proved suicide thoughts and attempts from transgender or nonbinary individuals with family support are almost 50% less than those without it.
She added, “What a child needs, particularly, but what all of us need is to know that we are worthy of love, deserve love and are loved no matter what. And that makes a huge difference. It’s also about just getting to know people as human beings. I don’t run around talking about being trans. I just live my life, and people have gotten to know me, and it’s magical when people just get to know people as human beings. That is the magic of this show.
The series doesn’t shy away from the truth of the challenges and hardships that members of the LGTBQ+ community face in places resistant to change. With the love and support from unexpected places, viewers will see Desiree navigate life in a Southern town through everything from finding safe and fun spaces to date and meet people or possibly finding yourself at odds with a preacher who refuses to baptize her as her correct gender.
“Wouldn’t it have been nice if I understood my daughter earlier instead of having to find out at the age when she comes home?” Wallace said, reflecting on the relationship between Harry and Desiree.
“I still don’t know what’s going on, but I’m learning and need a clean slate. Bring it on. Let me do the best I can — listen and learn and grow. And when there’s love there, there’s an openness to listen and learn.
Clean Slate is now streaming on Prime Video.
