What's Good Ya'll? I hope you are having a SPOOK-TACULAR October! As we continue with, what I believe to be one of the best times of the year lol, let me tell y'all about this dope new series you can stream on HULU Tuhday!!
Ok so quick synopsis before I give y'all the real tea: Nella ( played by Sinclair Daniel) an editorial assistant, is tired of being the only Black girl at her company, so she's excited when Hazel( played by Ashleigh Murray) is hired; but as Hazel's star begins to rise, Nella spirals out and discovers something sinister is going on at the company.
Ok so now you got the gist, now here's where I spill the tea on my thoughts and please note that spoilers may be apart of this personal review so log off and go watch the show ok!
Within the beginning of the series you really get to know Nella, her goals, who she admires and her crew; consisting of her boyfriend Owen (played by Hunter Parrish) and best friend Malaika (played by Brittany Adebumola). What I love about the cast, aside from them all being great actors, is how well they all worked together. I was so excited to see familiar faces from past shows I've watched. Scandals' Bellamy Young as Nella's boss, Vera Pirini. 'Will' from Will and Grace is in here ya'll lol his name is Eric Mccormick and he is the CEO of the publishing agency, Richard Wagner and last but certainly not least the forever multifaceted beauty Garcelle Beauvais who stars as the writer Diana Gordon.
Now I love a good scare and what's scarier than working in corporate America lol. You are instantly spooked by being thrown into the past and present of Black employees at Wagnor Books. You aren't sure if it's white America that's slowly tormenting black women, or if its the spirit of the only Black woman editor at Wagnor, Kendra Rae Phillips. As a black woman I instantly related to Nella having to navigate in a predominately white work space. While you can easily get along with everyone you always know that as the only back person you have to be ten times better, you low key are the token hire, people will constantly try to pander your blackness and you have to refrain from being "that black person" in whatever capacity. That alone is draining af, but that's life for us right? Black people have always been used to the uncomfortable, we live there.
Like Nella, I too instantly got excited by the sight of Hazel, another black woman! Another very relatable experience! Now as the interaction between the two progress you then start to side eye Hazel cuz sister girl is not moving like she a kinfolk. The show portrays a moment in which Nella has a chance to speak her mind about a racist stereotype within a book that the company is releasing and Hazel insists that she will back her up when the time is right to say something. Vera, Nellas' boss, tells Nella prior to this opprotutnity that she will handle it but the issue is; as a white woman she never saw an issue and only cared about how much money they were projecting with this release. When the writer comes to the office and asks Nella her thoughts, she takes that moment to really stand up for herself per her new coworkers advice. However, instead of backing her up, Hazel throws Nella under the bus and looks like she is on track to be the next black woman editor. That scenario was also too familiar and disheartening really. Every job that I have been blessed with a black women has been a blessing to me with the way they reach out to support me within my new role. But every now and again I did encounter that one sister girl that is NOT YOUR SIS. Women who go against women are terrible people but black women who go against black women are truly diabolical because like why sis ?!
Now some may say Nella is gullible or maybe she's just really loving and forgiving but ultimately Nella still allows Hazel into her circle and no matter how weird she acts it takes one final plea from best friend Malaika for things to finally click for Nella. As the present begins to unravel so does the past and we quickly learn that the mysterious happenings within Wagnor are not at all by coincidence.
The show is based off the novel, The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Delila Harris. Now that I have seen the show I definitely have to read the book to see where this goes and as much as I would love to give you more I really think you should just tap in. Black horror/thriller is my favorite sub genre of horror. It allows for us to explore our deepest, darkest fears in a new creative way, tackling tough topics that are all too familiar in our day to day lives. The Other Black Girl achieves horror greatness and more with not only a great cast but a stellar, conspiracy story that really doesn't seem that far fetched lol. If you have Hulu make sure you add this to your watchlist because it is a MUST WATCH!
Alright ya'll Peace <3
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