It was two weeks when WGN America announced the renewal of its Underground Railroad action-drama series “Underground” for a second season; I fully expected that season 1, which aired its finale episode last night, would end with some sort of cliffhanger, leaving fans anticipating what’s to come in the next season.
And the series did just that, with the introduction of a character named Harriet – obviously based on Harriet Tubman. Although this really shouldn’t have been a surprise, assuming it was to you. The series is called “Underground” after all (as in the Underground Railroad; although the title has multiple meanings); so you would expect that, at some point, we would be introduced to the real-life American hero who is most often associated with that significant artifact.
As Joe Pokaski (series co-creator and executive producer) said in an interview with Deadline yesterday, “We don’t want to spoil too much, but the analogy we’ve been using is, you can’t tell the story of the Justice League without touching on Superman.”
Indeed.
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Although how much of Tubman audiences can expect to see in the upcoming season (and potentially beyond) isn’t public information at this point. But, as Misha Green (series co-creator and executive producer) said in the same interview with Pokaski, “She’s definitely going to be a character that’s going to be coming in and out of our series, for sure.”
As you can see in the clip below, the introduction of “Harriet” is shrouded in mystery. We don’t really see her face. But we hear her voice as she introduces herself, using just her first name.
According to IMDB, the actress that plays “Harriet” is Kesha Bullard. Her credits include episodes of “Treme,” the upcoming “Roots,” reboot, as well as the Civil War drama feature “Free State of Jones” which stars Matthew McConaughey, Mahershala Ali, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and others. In the film, which is set for a June release, she plays Ali’s wife.
Whether Bullard will continue to play “Harriet” when “Underground” returns for season 2, we don’t know yet.
The introduction of Tubman in the series comes on the heels of the announcements of two feature films on her life that are in the works (one from Charles King’s MACRO, to be directed by Seith Mann; the other from Viola Davis for HBO), as well as the US Department of Treasury’s announcement that Tubman will become the new face of the $20 bill, relocating the slaveholding former president Andrew Jackson to its rear.
Produced by Sony Pictures Television and Tribune Studios, the 10-episode second season order of WGN’s “Underground” is set to begin production this summer for a 2017 debut.
In addition, WGN America has kicked off its “For Your Consideration” Emmy campaign for “Underground.”
Executive-produced by Misha Green, Joe Pokaski, John Legend, Akiva Goldsman, Tory Tunnell, Joby Harold, Mike Jackson, Ty Stiklorius and Anthony Hemingway, “Underground” follows a courageous group of American heroes who attempt a daring flight to freedom in the greatest escape in history.
The cast includes Jurnee Smollett-Bell as Rosalee, Aldis Hodge as Noah, Christopher Meloni as August Pullman, Alano Miller as Cato, Jessica de Gouw as Elizabeth Hawkes, Marc Blucas as John Hawkes, Adina Porter as Pearly Mae, Mykelti Williamson as Moses, Amirah Vann as Ernestine, Johnny Ray Gill as Sam, Chris Chalk as William Still, Reed Diamond as Tom Macon, Theodus Crane as Zeke, James Lafferty as U.S. Marshall Kyle Risdin, Renwick Scott as Henry and Jussie Smollett as Josey.
Watch the clip from last night’s season finale that comes at the end of the episode, introducing “Harriet.”
