Kindred review: compelling FX drama takes a modern-day look at the horrors of antebellum life
In this small-screen adaptation of Octavia Butler’s novel, a 21st-century woman has to protect her slave-owning ancestor
TV Reviews Kindred
Depictions of slavery on TV have come a long way since Roots first brought America’s original sin to our sets. In recent years, series like Underground, The Underground Railroad, and The Good Lord Bird have explored the antebellum period and the complexities of the lives of enslaved people, correcting a long history of African-American ancestors being written as mindless servants and racist caricatures. The new FX series Kindred, which streams exclusively on Hulu next week, continues this wave, as the long-awaited adaptation of the Octavia Butler novel examines the often-unspoken legacy of slavery on modern-day society.
The series centers on Dana (Mallori Johnson), an aspiring television writer newly arrived in L.A. after the seemingly impulsive sale of her late grandmother’s Brooklyn brownstone. Dana’s parents passed away when she was young, and her remaining family disapproves of her choices, so she finds comfort in Kevin (Micah Stock), a musician and waiter. Amid the move-in, the 26-year-old has also been experiencing troubling visions; in the first, she finds herself in a nursery, where she helps a baby in imminent peril before encountering her deceased mother. The second trip cannot be written off as a dream; she’s transported to the bank of a river, where she rescues a red-haired boy from drowning. It’s clear that she’s been transported through space and time, and though it sounds impossible, she knows something real and dangerous is happening.
Those familiar with the genre-bending novel know that Dana has been sucked into a time-bending symbiotic relationship with the red-haired boy, who is actually her ancestor, Rufus Weylin (David Alexander Kaplan). Rufe is the son of a Maryland plantation owner in the 1800s, and Dana is the direct descendant of the child he will have with one of his slaves. In order for Dana to ensure her own bloodline, she’ll have to protect the boy long enough for him to father her ancestor, while surviving the horrors of slavery and the whims of the boy’s cruel father Tom (Ryan Kwanten) and possessive mother Margaret (Gayle Rankin).
The premise itself is engrossing enough to propel an eight-episode season, and showrunner Branden Jacobs-Jenkins expands on the book’s plot to include subplots and characters that enhance the show’s main quandary: How would a modern-day Black woman withstand the abuse of slavery? Jacobs-Jenkins deftly intertwines past and present, showing why Dana and Kevin (who also time-traveled to the 1800s) can’t shake off what they’ve experienced once they return to the modern day. The looming tension surrounding the Weylin plantation continues in scenes in which the pair has to deal with the surveillance of Dana’s “helpful” neighbors, who militantly try to keep the peace on their Silver Lake block with NextDoor surveillance and threats to call the police. Meanwhile, a new storyline involving Dana’s mother Olivia (Sheria Irving) nods to the legacy of lost histories of African-American families, while also adding an intriguing layer to the overall mystery.
An important question for any piece of art about slavery produced in 2022 is whether the work gives an honest portrayal of the practice that honors what the enslaved survived, or if the depiction just revels in the time’s cruelty, presenting human misery as mere spectacle. Kindred does the former, as Dana serves as the audience surrogate learning the dynamics of the plantation. The series doesn’t flinch away from the injustice of antebellum society, but it doesn’t use unrelenting gory violence or copious racial slurs to make its point. Instead, it respects the audience’s intelligence, understanding that an offhand remark or a dismissive gesture is enough to establish the social structure of the time.
Despite its stellar examination of the dynamics between the enslaver and the enslaved, this debut season of Kindred doesn’t spend much time exploring the most compelling dynamic in the book. The show’s entire premise is based on the supernatural tie between Dana and Rufus, but they aren’t around each other that often. Instead, the series elevates the relationship between Dana and Kevin, which takes up a large chunk of the show’s runtime. Like in the book, Kevin also spends time in the 1800s, and at one point, he (a white man) is shocked that the Weylins think Dana is his slave, to which she responds, “That’s not surprising.” While Dana works, Kevin ingratiates himself with the Weylins to ensure they’re welcome on the plantation. But as Kevin’s dealings with Tom and Margaret get more attention later in the season, it made me question whether the time would be better spent building Dana and Rufus’ connection. It’s a lot of agency to give a white man within a story about the horrors of slavery, and though a general (white) audience probably won’t mind Kevin’s upgrade to a co-lead, book fans may be left annoyed.
If the average liberal-minded person living today were asked whether they could get used to slavery, they would likely say no, be they Black or white. Kindred is a show that challenges the many assumptions within that answer, presenting a compelling, thought-provoking scenario in a well-written and expertly directed package. (The pilot, helmed by Zola’s Janicza Bravo, is a particular standout.) The eight-episode run is unflinching without being cruel, and the show has undeniable potential for another season when considering the scale of the source material. The genre-bending living nightmare may not be an easy watch, but that doesn’t make it any less necessary.
Kindred premieres December 13 on Hulu.
19 Comments
I’m very, very excited. It’s my favorite book. And Interview with the Vampire taught me that networks still have the ability to adapt material in a worthwhile, interesting, and entertaining way.But you have thankfully pointed out where the show might draw my hesitation and disappointment—I’m intiailly disappointed to read Dana’s relationship with Rufus take a bit of a backseat. However, now that I know, I will go into it with an open mind, and hope that whatever is done is compelling.For anyone interested, the book is great (all of Octavia Butler’s books and stories are great) and there is also a graphic novel adaptation worth checking out.
This show sounds very interesting to me, but I had already decided not to watch it because I’m past the point in my life where I can consume content about cruelties of slavery. It’s too affecting to me now. However, I’m glad to hear that this show doesn’t dwell on them to the point of making it Black-pain-porn, so I might watch the first episode and see how it goes. It’s up my alley in terms of genre.
The book sure is good! But it does depict the cruelties of slavery very vividly. The point is so powerful, though, that we, modern Americans of all races, are all kindred.
My first reaction to seeing the headline was that between this and Emancipation, audiences are being asked to sign up for a lot of misery porn. Glad to hear this doesn’t go that route.
One of the things I loved about the book was how well Butler showed the system of slavery was evil and it corrupted everyone. Slavery wasn’t perpetuated by just “bad” people. It was enforced and continued by people who considered themselves to be good. People who could be sympathetic and human. That was illuminated in the Dana/Rufus dynamic and showed how an innocent child could become a raping monster. I hope that if this receives a second season, they don’t lose that part. It was one of the most powerful aspects of the book.
Iinteresting, I never considered that The system of slavery might be evil or corrupt people. Huh. Will have to ponder that one a bit…
Absolutely. I do wonder if the first season focuses on child Rufus in order to allow viewers to build an affinity for him – the kind of motherly/sisterly feeling that sustains Dana for the length of their relationship – so we are more invested as we watch him turn into the raping monster you describe.
I love the book, but I’m tired of slave narratives on tv/in film. I think I’ll still give it a shot though because FX rarely misses.
I love Octavia Butler and I can’t wait for this show. Glad it sounds like they pulled it off. One interesting thing reading the book was how it was unclear for so long that Kevin was white. That makes more of a difference when he’s pulled back with her than it does when they’re in the present. That surprise obviously won’t work with the visual translation, but that’s a small sacrifice to take it to screen. Now let’s get to Lilith’s Brood!
One interesting thing reading the book was how it was unclear for so long that Kevin was white.Totally tangential here, but I read a book recently (The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi) and afterward was discussing it with my wife, who had also read it. We realized when talking about it that she had assumed the protagonist (named Jamie) was female, while I assumed they were male. Then we realized that was because Scalzi deliberately avoided having any other characters (it’s in first-person) reference Jamie with gendered pronouns, or make any other references that would imply gender. Neither of us realized it while reading the book; it was only when I said “he” and she was like “wait, Jamie’s female” and we were like :O
I had the same quandary about Kevin when I read the book, even after I read a line about how he had almost “clear” or colorless eyes or something (for a hot second I thought – he’s albino?). I had also assumed that a Black woman in the 70s would most likely be married to a Black man. Still, Kevin being White makes a ton of sense for how Dana is able to move back in the 19th century when they go together, and of course, he serves to make a contrast with Rufus.
Im guessing antibellum has to do with slaves? Sorry, its hard to keep up with the accepted language these days, it changes so fast 🙂
i didn’t know anything about this, the ads on hulu are unclear, but after reading this i might give it a try.
Here to say that Octavia Butler is fucking amazing and all her books should be (competently) adapted into every medium so as to expose her writings to larger audiences.
I am both excited and very wary of this adaptation. It’s a brilliant book by a brilliant writer, and I’m a little worried that the liberties they take will undermine things too much. Like most of Butler’s books, the interiority of the characters as they navigate hostile environments and make difficult decisions are central and that’s very hard to bring to the screen. I’m a little put off by the idea that they are elevating Kevin’s storyline over exploring the tricky relationship between Dana and Rufus. Hopefully it’s not because they want to foreground a “nice” white character at the expense of exploring Butlers themes. Nut I’ll try to watch with an open mind to what they are doing.
“It’s a lot of agency to give a white man within a story about the horrors of slavery”Fair to say a white man would have far more agency in a story about slavery than the black woman he’s linked to. We all know how a black person would react to suddenly finding herself in the antebellum south. Sheer terror and horror, and rightly so. But what about a person who is elevated in that society? I doubt any even slightly person would decide “sweet, I’m a slaver now!” but how much do they push back? How much do they go along to get along?
I often confuse this title with Butler’s Fledgling. That will need some adjusting if it’s ever going to be adapted.
Where are all the vampires???Wait, this isn’t a remake of Kindred: The Embraced, the one-season FOX drama about vampires from the 1990s?
Finished the show this morning, so I guess that means it was watchable? Not very believable fiction in the way it was written or acted however. I have not read the book to be honest for comparison of the characters in the book. Kevin was clueless to his power, he was to timid and afraid. Any white-man in that era was a God and negro slaves were animals. I’m not being over-dramatic, the realty of the world in 1816 is what the show fail to relay to this viewer.. It tried to show the lack of humanity, and the cruelty of the master. And Dana what slave runs around looking and acting like she was white. No 2016 black person would be so ignorant and or naive no to understand how to act if they where thrown in to the time period. Dana was was a total miss for me, even more than Kevin. This could have been a cool SiFi or cringe depressing slave story but it was neither. Instead it not a very satisfying or memorable 6 hours. And of course it ends with a setup a season two, not one question answered. Several plot points just disappear unanswered, the annoying neighbor, the cops etc.