The Red Line Review: We Must All Care / We Are Each Other’s Harvest (Season 1 Episodes 1 and 2)
In one of Greg Berlanti’s most emotional TV creations to date, The Red Line blurs the lines between what is good and what is bad when an unarmed black man is shot in the back by a white cop.
With the first two episodes, The Red Line Season 1 Episode 1, “We Must All Care,” and The Red Line Season 1 Episode 2, “We Are Each Other’s Harvest,” the show sets the stage for what is to come in this landmark legal battle in the backdrop of Chicago.
When we first meet each of these separate characters we made to feel one thing about each of them For Daniel and Jira we feel compassion for the life that ended when their husband/father dies.
For Paul Evans, the cop, we feel anger and resentment because he represents all those other cops we see in our own neighborhoods shooting innocent black lives. For Tia Young, we feel empathy for the life she leads versus the life she wants.
It’s a complicated story, one where the lines are constantly being blurred and it’s hard to tell which way is up. However, it is a story that this country really needs to see both sides of right now.
With emotions running high about all of the innocent lives being lost in police shootings every day we need something that slows us down and makes us sit back and think. Nothing is black and white in any of these stories, race or otherwise.
As Paul Evans begins to see his life spiral because of a split second decision, the acting prowess of Noel Fisher takes us on an emotional journey. With simple eye twitches and nervous tics, we see a man torn apart by something he never meant to do in the first place but is trying his best to put on a stoic front.
At the end of “We Must All Care,” the charges against Evans are dropped. This moment alone is a watershed for Evans, he feels relief that he gets to go back to his job but he also realizes that the story is far from over.
Paul Evans: You said I did everything right!
This is honestly, the strongest acting I have ever seen from Noel Fisher in the many years I have followed his career. He nails all the intense scenes with his partner so well that I feel his anguish and pain deep in my soul.
Then he turns around in “We Are Each Other’s Harvest” and reminds us that we don’t actually know what Evans is thinking. Fisher’s little nuances shed light on the complex thoughts running through Evans’ head and leave audiences wondering if the cop made a mistake or he’s secretly terrified of black people.
Either option could be a reality and it’s the not knowing that makes this episode that much more compelling. He knows that his previous partner stole the security footage from the shooting in order to protect him, but will he turn it in himself or keep it quiet?
These scenes actually cause us to take pause. It makes us all wonder if every single cop who has shot an innocent life is guilty of being a racist or a bigot. Maybe some of them did the wrong thing in a split second decision and resulted in a person’s death.
Which leads us to the performances by Noah Wyle and Aliyah Royale, who play Daniel Calder and his daughter, Jira Calder-Brennan. These two make it utterly believable that they are father and daughter. Every little moment between them is significant and worth noting.
However, some of the major ones are the extremely emotional moments brought forth by a mixture of their grief and Jira’s desire to know who her mother is. In these scenes, Wyle and Royale really bring their all and have us transported into their world.
Calder just wants to protect his daughter and keep her safe. It’s something that was destroyed the day his husband was killed, his sense of security for his family.
It’s clear from the word go that these two characters have a hard time communicating with each other. A complication made by their obviously different world views based solely on the color of their skin.
Jira: I need someone who knows what it feels like.
Time and time again between “We Must All Care” and “We Are Each Other’s Harvest,” Jira tells her father that he will never understand her pain and fear because he is white. It’s heartbreaking to watch that realization actually hit Calder.
His entire worldview is shaken by this tragedy and he just wants to see some kind of justice occur; some kind of justice that will somehow make his feelings of hurt and guilt and loss go away.
Even without saying a word, Wyle manages to convey all that Calder is going through. It’s in his eyes, how they appear broken, and his face, how he never smiles and always looks to be holding back tears. In the moments when he actually does let the tears flow it is that much more poignant because it’s as if a wall has broken down.
Daniel Calder: One of us has to be okay.
It’ll be interesting to watch his relationship with his daughter unfold in the coming episodes. It is clear that they have quite a bit of work to do on knowing and understanding one another, but what isn’t clear is how successful their attempts to bridge that gap are going to be.
The Red Line is telling us in each of these moments, with these characters, that they aren’t going to hold anything back. Any emotion or complexity that is to be had by this situation is going to be explored. No stone is going to be left unturned, something that is strongly represented in the character of Tia Young.
Emayatzy Corinealdi’s Tia Young is fascinating from the very beginning. Oftentimes when we see politically minded females on TV they don’t care much for anything beyond what they are campaigning for.
However, Young shows us that some of these women are actually multi-faceted human beings. She is a working mom and wife. She loves her son and wants to be there for him but, she also has her eyes set on the Alderman position in her district.
The facet of Young that is the most intriguing isn’t even her passion for the Evans/Brennan case; it’s her connection to the Calder-Brennan family via Jira. That’s right, she had Jira when she was really young and gave her up for adoption to Calder and Brennan.
If things were messy and complicated before they are about to get even more so. All through “We Are Each Other’s Harvest” Young goes back and forth on whether or not to tell Jira she is her mother.
Just when audiences are made to believe she isn’t going to open up that box, she emails Jira. Jira is already a mess trying to make sense of all that is going on around her. Bringing her mother into it is just going to blur the lines even further.
In the coming episodes, it will be interesting to see these separate lives begin to really intersect and complicate one another. How will Evans deal with what he knows about that night? Will he come forward in an attempt to make things right but instead further complicate everything?
Will Jira’s new found information threaten the already tenuous relationship she has with her father? What about Young, will her actions lead to complications with her family and her campaign?
If the first two episodes are anything to go on, The Red Line is about to take us on a journey of discovery and revelation, packed with complicated emotions.
What did you think of the series premiere of The Red Line? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Critic Rating:
User Rating:
The Red Line airs Sundays at 8/7c on CBS.
Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!
Mads Misasi
Mads is a part-time entertainment journalist and full-time marketing content creator. They love any and all TV Dramas with a few sitcoms mixed in. Join in the fun talking about TV by following them on Twitter: @dorothynyc89.