The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey

How [Robyn (Dominique Fishback)] becomes Ptolemy’s caregiver, while important to the story, is less important to the series as a whole than the dynamic between Ms. Fishback and Mr. Jackson. Their pas de deux is a wonder all its own, something rare and exhilarating, an alchemical reaction of youth and experience, defiance and resignation, fragility and stone.

What feels so fresh—and so successful, thanks to stunning performances from Jackson and Fishback—is the boldness with which Mosley combines seemingly incompatible elements. He deftly weaves together the devastation that follows betrayal and the uplift of found family, science fiction and stark realism, character development and sociopolitical commentary.

Where the series shines is through its at times brutal, at times delicate realism. Through Ptolemy’s widened unseeing eyes, you can understand the pure terror his life must be every day. If you’ve ever been someone diagnosed with dementia, Jackson nails their mannerisms while also infusing his performance with a degree of empathy many of these patients rarely experience. ... Fishback’s quietly powerful take on Robyn is what makes Jackson’s performance so notable.

Jackson and Fishback fill the screen with pain that goes bone-deep, and joy that feels like a glorious victory.

The oldest version — that rag-and-bone-shop-of-the-heart Ptolemy — could turn out to be Jackson's masterpiece, or one of them anyway. ... First-rate Jackson, entertaining series.

This is all quite strongly rendered, and as the series goes on, it is best when it keeps its eye on small, real things.

While “Ptolemy” has flaws in its execution, it’s redeemed by earth-shaking performances, and justifies Jackson’s desire to spotlight a storyteller confined to the page for too long.

Handsomely mounted and thoughtfully paced, this is Samuel L. Jackson giving it his all with a complex, emotional, deeply personal role. In a decades-long career, he’s rarely been better.

What does Hilliard do when he is assigned with taking Ptolemy to the bank? What does Robyn do when she sees how much Ptolemy has stored away? This narrative focus becomes one of its more ambitious elements, matching Jackson’s dramatic range in bringing this story to life.

One might wonder if he could have slimmed the story down a bit, or if a couple more episodes would have provided room to roam. But there’s more than enough here to recommend. The interplay between Jackson and Fishback is as natural as can be, yielding an unlikely companionship based in love and trust. On a broader scale, this is a fully fleshed-out portrait of Black Americans.

It’s a slow burn as Mosley establishes Ptolemy’s world and allies, and sprinkles clues about a treasure Coydog steals from white sharecropper bosses. By the end of the third episode, you’re almost urging the creative team to hit the gas pedal. At the same time, it’s a joy to see Jackson taking a break from the high-metabolism MCU to disappear inside wigs and latex as doddering Ptolemy, snap into focus as a medicated Ptolemy, and even tackle the man in his prime years.

Stretched over six episodes, the series sometimes gets bogged down in repeating itself, and tacks on a few too many epilogues after a classic contesting-the-will sequence that would made for a most satisfying ending. Still, this is a richly written, wonderfully acted series with a heartfelt, searing, tender performance by Samuel L. Jackson that ranks among his very best.

Mosley took on much of the adaptation chores, and the scenes come to life when the characters — especially the ones at the center, played so vividly by Jackson and Fishback — converse and reflect in ways transcending functional dialogue. At its best “Ptolemy Grey” lets the audience know it’s listening to a writer with a singular ear for vernacular, and dramatic poetry. See it for Jackson and Fishback, in particular, and for what they can accomplish when plot takes a back seat to character.

Two episodes into The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey, its potential is clear, even if its setup is laboriously unraveled.