A policeman, tortured by memories of child abuse and unable to connect with the people she loves, returns to her hometown to try to overcome her past pain. The passion to do his job well is his only driving force, to the extent that everything else in his life is sacrificed at the altar of this goal.
If that premise sounds familiar, that’s because it’s not only the premise of HBO’s latest drama series “Get Millie Black,” but it’s also more or less the plot of the same network’s “True Detective” and “Mayor of Easttown.” The only difference is the setting: instead of the swamps of Louisiana or middle-class Delaware towns, this variation takes place in Kingston, Jamaica. Inspired by a short story by Marlon James, “Get Millie Black” must rely on its gang to save itself from rote filmmaking. Fortunately, this is mostly a successful bet.
Millie Black (Tamara Lawrence) was raised by horrifically cruel parents who regularly beat Millie’s brother Orville while shouting homophobic slurs. Millie was sent to live with relatives in London; Later, his mother calls to inform him of Orville’s death. Driven by the desire to find the missing children, Millie becomes a policewoman, but is drawn back to Kingston when she sees her brother’s signature on their mother’s death certificate.
Upon returning, Millie cannot find Orville. Instead, he finds Hibiscus (the immensely talented Chyna McQueen), who, after transitioning, has created a new community of sisters in the street, a small haven for Kingston’s trans community that is also the target of attacks from local radical thugs. Is. Even though “Bis” has made a life for herself, Millie can’t get over the fact that she’s returned to find and save someone who has already found himself and needs saving. Not there. Even the genuine affection of her partner Detective Curtis (Gerswin Eustache Jr.), a gay policeman who has been forced to pass as straight, doesn’t help Millie feel safe. Amidst trying to reconnect with Bess, Millie throws herself into her latest assignment, the case of Janet Fenton, a missing straight-A student (Sharnett Swerin).
An attempt to find Janet leads Milly and Curtis to the Somervilles, a wealthy white family whose son Freddy (Peter John Thwaites), also missing, appears to have a fondness for underage girls. If that wasn’t depressing enough, Millie is also tasked with working with Metropolitan Police policeman, Luke Holborn (Joe Dempsey, who played Gendry Baratheon in “Game of Thrones”), as a witness. Have arrived to take Freddy into custody. A gang related case in London. Soon, hidden agendas and secret conspiracies are exposed, neither of which are particularly surprising, and both are conveyed with fairly dull direction and, apart from a few very good jokes, fairly generic writing. .
Acting only helps. Eustache Jr.’s excellent comic timing adds pace and liveliness to every scene he is in, but that doesn’t mean he is comic relief. His performance is capped with the heartache of hiding his reality, carefully modifying his behavior and speech to avoid getting arrested. McQueen offers a glimpse into the joys and fears of Kingston’s trans community, which no one outside of it really understands: his chosen family is giving, encouraging and euphoric, enjoying their lives with abandon. Taking action, even though the threat of violence always remains a reality. Hibiscus’s scenes with Millie are a formidable study of sibling dynamics, so obviously different are the circumstances, expectations, and concerns of the two sisters; Lawrence and McQueen’s two-person ballet of frustration and anger is one of the best scenes of the episode. Well versed in Shakespeare, Lawrence moves easily from anger and hatred to tenderness and sorrow. In Millie’s most unbalanced moments, Lawrence helps her come across as a person who is aware on some level of how badly her trauma is affecting her, but is determined to stop its continued reign over her psyche. He is equally powerless.
But of the four episodes made available for review, Swearen is the one who really shines. Janet’s steely gaze and hard spirit are a tragedy for someone so young, but instead of pity, you feel a strange kind of admiration for her resolve. His patience in the face of out-and-out chaos is reminiscent of Dominique Fishback’s brilliant performance in “The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey.”
The writing can feel stilted, the direction slow, and the editing in particular struggles to stand out from the trove of hyper-specialized crime dramas currently prevalent on television. Yes, “True Detective” reinvented the police drama ten years ago, but it’s clear the genre demands reinvention once again. If nothing else, “Get Millie Black” is a great introduction to actors with bright futures.
Four episodes were shown for review, Premieres on November 25.