The Other Black Girl

The casting is incredible, the lead characters are two very complex Black women, and when the show is funny, it’s really funny. Even if there is no second season to be had, things wrap up well, and these days, nothing is more satisfying than an ending that can either sit as it is or be expanded upon later.

A faithful and gripping adaptation that will leave viewers exhilarated, entertained, and wanting more — especially from star Sinclair Daniel.

Although the show starts to flag somewhat over the latter half of the season, the performances of The Other Black Girl's cast elevate any slowdown in pacing or stumbles in tone, leaving you just as driven to keep pressing play on each subsequent episode to find out what will happen next.

Unfolding over 10 brisk half-hours, the series morphs from a Devil Wears Prada-style workplace satire into an audacious, racially charged twist on The Stepford Wives. [25 Sep - 15 Oct 2023, p.14]

The series was developed by Harris and Rashida Jones, and the duo worked hard at balancing humor with subject matter that’s certainly no laughing matter. They succeeded with “The Other Black Girl,” delivering an intriguing mystery series in the process.

The Other Black Girl definitely takes a different approach to demonstrating systemic racism, and combined with the fine performances from Daniel, Murray, Young and others, makes for a show that definitely kept us engaged.

The pleasure of The Other Black Girl lies in its willingness to take big swings, by all appearances unbothered by the pressure to be anything other than whatever it wants to be.

The plot can get a bit unwieldy throughout the course of its 10 episodes, and there are some tone issues (forgivable for a series that straddles drama, comedy and thriller), but the show is as timely as its source material in the wake of a so-called racial reckoning that, among other discourse, brought to light the inequities that Black and other employees of color face at predominantly White companies.

While the entire cast is engaging, Murray’s uncanny ability to switch on a dime from nice to nasty underscores the genre-bending whimsy of the show. And Brittany Adebumola’s hilariously brash outbursts as Malakia, Nella’s best friend, makes her another standout here. Infusing these moments of levity with dramatic and horror elements, “The Other Black Girl” walks the same thought-provoking line between terror and comedy that makes Jordan Peele’s “Get Out” so brilliant.

It’s Daniel as Nella who really shines as a woman caught in a whirlwind of confusion, fear and ambition. It’s a tricky balance, befitting the show. Both Nella and the show pull it off, if not with ease, then at least with confidence.

The genre shift ends up distracting from, rather than deepening, all the wonderful observations of the season’s first half about Nella and Hazel’s tricky interpersonal negotiations. Still, there’s so much to like about this series, from the deft performances (Beauvais may be better known these days as a cast member on “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” but she’s terrific and sly here) to the look of the show itself.

The cast, however, is captivating and charming enough to smooth over even the most jarring of genre stumbles. Daniel, in particular, nails her character’s self-proclaimed “nerdy little Black girl who didn’t grow up with kids who looked like her” loneliness, as well as the despair when that long-awaited solidarity is replaced with suspicion and jealousy.

Though its plot becomes convoluted as tensions ramp up, The Other Black Girl’s consistently terrific pacing and magnetic performances keep the series from feeling too reductive or inconsistent. It ultimately crafts a silly but sensible horror-comedy about the perils of ambition in an industry hellbent on crushing it.

As TV, “The Other Black Girl” ends up being an entertaining, sometimes jarring mix of realist satire and over-the-top thriller.

Provided you can relax into the camp vibe once the suspense kicks into gear, "The Other Black Girl" is an easy binge that highlights its talent, especially Adebumola's ample comedic timing.

The horror aspect is also, at times, a bit freewheeling. .... The Other Black Girl’s dive into questions of agency and choice around assimilation is what makes it rich.

Strong performances—notably from Daniel and Murray, who play Nella’s vulnerability against Hazel’s confidence, as well McCormack, who deftly balances charm and smarm—can’t compensate for indifferent direction. .... These are not minor problems. Yet despite the style and pace, the show is hard to dismiss.

Ms. Harris and her screenwriters may have been out to spoof the world of publishing and lampoon its less-diverse corners, but we don't believe the characters because the script abandons basic impulses of human nature—ambition and anger, but also the God-given, self-preservationist instinct to read a room. .... Where the Diana-Nella collaboration will go—and what Richard actually knows—are intriguing questions posed by the plot, and a viewer might want to wade through the illogic to find answers.

What could have been an enthralling story about assimilation to the highest degree ultimately fumbles under the weight of the dozens of films and miniseries that preceded it. Perhaps if the novel came out on the cusp of the release of "Get Out," this adaptation would be more appealing instead being almost offensive in its mediocrity.