# Underground (2016)

> A band of enslaved people attempts a perilous 600-mile escape from a Georgia plantation, aided by a secret abolitionist couple on the Underground Railroad.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/56811

## Facts

- Seasons: 2
- Episodes: 20
- Episode runtime: 42 min
- Status: Canceled
- Genres: drama, history
- Created by: Joe Pokaski, Misha Green
- Network: WGN America
- Cast: Aldis Hodge, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Christopher Meloni, Jessica De Gouw, Alano Miller, Brady Permenter, Darielle Stewart, Amirah Vann
- TMDB rating: 7.9/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4522400/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: brutal
- Tone: harrowing, tense, urgent, defiant, hopeful

## What critics say

Audiences rate the series positively for its gripping escape-thriller momentum, strong ensemble performances, and unflinching depiction of slavery and the Underground Railroad.

## Synopsis

Underground (2016-2017) is an American historical drama series created by Joe Pokaski and Misha Green for WGN America, a two-season run of twenty episodes. Set in the antebellum American South, it follows a group of enslaved people, led by Noah (Aldis Hodge) and Rosalee (Jurnee Smollett-Bell), who plan a daring escape of roughly 600 miles from a Georgia plantation. Their engine is simple and relentless: every stretch of road brings a new hazard, from patrols to bounty hunters charged with returning them dead or alive. Along the way they depend on a secret abolitionist couple running a station on the Underground Railroad, Elizabeth Hawkes (Jessica De Gouw) and August Pullman (Christopher Meloni), whose household becomes a fragile refuge and a site of moral risk. Each episode is built around tight tactical choices, hidden shelter, and shifting alliances, so the story moves as one continuous chase rather than a case of the week. The tone is harrowing and urgent, with moments of hope and solidarity threaded through the dread. Fans of Roots, Taboo and The Fugitive will find resonance in its grounded period texture and serialized pursuit. Its brutality is unflinching, and it ends without resolving its central journey.

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