The Red Line Season Finale Review: I Must Tell You What We Have Inherited/This Victory Alone is not the Change We Seek (Season 1 Episodes 7 and 8)

All season long, The Red Line has challenged our way of thinking, empowered us to feel beyond our scope of experience, and fight for the change our world needs to see.

On The Red Line Season 1 Episode 7, “I Must Tell You What We Have Inherited” and The Red Line Season 1 Episode 8, “This Victory Alone is not the Change We Seek,” the story reaches its last stop with one great big masterful, albeit quiet, conclusion.

This entire season we have been all over Chicago’s neighborhoods with each character’s story and on the finale, we are finally given the significance of it all. In Chicago, the red line is a train that runs from the north side to the south side connecting all of the neighborhoods in between. 

The Red Line‘s collective story is exactly that: the opportunity to bring about change by connecting all of Chicago’s neighborhoods. It’s a nice subtle message that wasn’t clearly apparent until the very end — even though we should have seen it all along.

Jira and Daniel are from the north side and lead a life of wealth and privilege. Tia is from the 6th Ward and hasn’t always lived there but she knows how hard things are in Chicago’s south side. Then there is Paul Evans who resides somewhere in between. 

All of these stories come together in the most tragic of ways. But as “I Must Tell You What We Have Inherited” and “The Victory Alone is not the Change We Seek” show us, that doesn’t mean their unifying moment can’t create change and make a better world for everyone.

Once again, Aliyah Royale knocks it out of the park with her portrayal of Jira Caulder-Brennan. This young lady doesn’t back down from baring it all for the world to witness. We never have to guess her emotions because she clearly displays them.

One of the strongest scenes from “I Must Tell You What We Have Inherited” comes when Jira sits down with her father to discuss her relationship with Isaiah, her birth father. It’s evident from Daniel’s words and expressions that he isn’t sure how to feel about this new development for his daughter, but he is willing to try for her.

Then Royale comes in with Jira’s line about how great she thinks he is and the tears are flowing. The acting prowess being displayed between Royale and Noah Wyle is the best its been all season. We feel their connection on a deeply personal level.

The two characters of Daniel and Jira have struggled both together and apart this entire season. One of the greatest things about The Red Line is that they never prevented viewers from seeing the complicated mess that is adoption and birth parent discovery. 

To make it even more complicated this all comes out after the two have suffered a tremendous loss. But as Daniel points out to Tia in “The Victory Alone is not the Change We Seek,” if Harrison hadn’t been killed their families would have still reunited. 

It’s a beautiful look at how fate can sometimes step in and help a journey along even if the foundation was already there. Who knows if they would’ve introduced Jira to Tia sooner than it actually happened, but knowing that Harrison was already thinking about it shows that all along the bond had his blessing. 

Tia Young: There is no better answer to the darkness than to find more family.

Throughout these two finale episodes, we get to see each of these characters find more family. Obviously, Tia, Jira, and Daniel have found each other. But, there is also the reconciliation between Daniel and Liam that has led them to become family for each other — a bond that has been building steadily all season and is beautiful to see finally bloom.

Unfortunately, Paul Evans finds himself on the opposite end of that. He finds that he can’t reconcile what he has done and ends up losing family. 

On “The Victory Alone is not the Change We Seek,” we get to watch as he owns up to his own ingrained racism, that he didn’t realize he had until the minute he shot Harrison Brennan, and choose to quit his job.

When Evans’ brother confronts him about pissing away all the help that people have given him in the past year, Noel Fisher begins to take us on this journey of Paul Evans’ demise as a cop. Paul is the type of character who doesn’t say much until he simply explodes and Fisher is really adept at letting those feelings fester under the surface but still be visible.

Jim: You’re better than this Pauly.

Paul: That’s the thing Jim. I don’t know that I am.

Despite the writers choosing not to end Paul Evans’ story with an indictment for murder — a choice many viewers thought was going to happen — there is still a satisfying end to his story.

Paul Evans uses this entire year-long journey as an opportunity to see what he did was wrong and could very well happen again. So he takes himself out of the equation. 

He shows the Caulder-Brennan’s and all of Chicago that he is sorry, truly sorry, by quitting his job and going back to being a civilian. It’s a message that ingrained racism is just as dangerous as blatant racism and should be treated in the same regard.

Evans knows that he is dangerous and needs to be stopped. Since his continued actions to try and get fired don’t go his way he takes it into his own hands and makes the decision for them.

It’s clear from the tears in his eyes as the screen fades to black on his story that Paul Evans knows he was wrong and will live with that pain and guilt for the rest of his life. His guilt is so visceral due to Fisher’s microexpressions that we want to wrap Paul in a hug. After all, he’s losing too.

All in all, this conclusion to The Red Line is beautiful and artfully executed. All of the stories wrap up in satisfying ways even if they aren’t all the endings we expected. 

It would be interesting to see just how much change the new Alderman Tia Young can bring to Chicago especially with Daniel Caulder by her side fighting for changes of his own. Based on where we leave things, there is only room to move up for these characters.

Daniel: It’s time our community stands up for the people we don’t see at brunch.

The beauty of The Red Line is that even after the episodes stop rolling, our minds and hearts keep building. Building on the foundations these stories have created in our own lives; creating change in a world that desperately needs it.

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What did you think of these episodes of The Red Line? Share your thoughts in the comments below! Catch up with our review of The Red Line Season 1 Episodes 5 and 6 “One Day May We Be More Than a Body/We Turn Up This Music Louder Than A Mother’s Cry” right here.

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What to Watch on TV: Week of May 19th