So, binding white people from using magic raises an interesting question: who counts as white people? (See the history of Irish and Italian folks in the US, shifting notions of race as you move throughout the Americas, etc.) I’m really hoping the show isn’t relying on a quasi-biological/quasi-mystical notion of what…

This show has to be renewed! It’s too good and of course Tic, Ruby and even Christina (shudder...) could possibly return.

I had to replay I am Blessed twice, the soundstage through a home cinema sounded amazing.

I was right, everybody lost something at the end because Lovecraft magic is always bad.

As usual, excellent recap! Your analysis of the historic references and details always gives a lot to think about.

What struck me about this episode is that I became more sympathetic towards Montrose (Michael K. Williams is outdoing himself with this complex character). The childhood trauma (physical abuse, watching your paramour be killed after you rebuked him, etc.)that really turned him into a monster of sorts later in life was…

Pease help me I’m so confused.

This episode had me STUCK on the couch for a while afterwards. The pity I felt for Montrose...Michael K. Williams face as he recounts what life was like for him was heartbreaking. Hippolyta becoming Orinthia Blue! Jesus. There were just so many moments of ancestors connecting with the past and future that this episode…

Every single expansion of civil rights in the United States has been accompanied by violence. It’s literally woven into the fabric of this country. And violence does bring change and many times for good. I don’t advocate violence unless all other avenues are cut off as is so often the case for all minorities in this…

“It was powerful…[the writers] did their research. As [Montrose] is recalling the Black entrepreneurs, some of those sites, [like] Standpipe Hill, were accurate,” Brown enthused, “What I liked about this portrayal, [was] them showing African Americans fighting back. There were Blacks fighting to defend their…

I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you to Kinitra D. Brooks for your coverage of Lovecraft Country.  It is always such a pleasure to read your insightful analysis of each episode.  I find you often put into words thoughts that are just out of reach for myself. Also you provide perspective that I haven’t…

The hardest part of watching Doctor Who is inevitably saying goodbye. By its nature it fundamentally changes every 2-3 seasons. While it never gets any easier to say goodbye, I will say that the change is seldom for the worse.

Truth be told, while I’m a fan of most of the other recommendations/references on your list, I’m actually not that big on Dr Who.

As my wife and I watched that episode I literally said Hippolyta is the Doctor.

So far I thought of magic in the show as representation privilege. Something that those who have it think to be their right and part natural order of things making them better than the rest. But Hippolyta comes back and shows us magic really is knowledge. And like any knowledge it can be hoarded and used to gain upper…

Old white guy here. Hope you don’t mind my reading this.

Yeah - that’s part of the beauty of this show. For me anyway, the understanding of the history and how it shapes us into who and what we are in the present day. I applaud HBO for having the courage to continue to show melanin in roles and situations and relationships and dramas that have not historically been…

As a matter of fact, I think just as Christina uses maleness as a means to an end, Ruby would do the same thing with her Red-headed self and the magic - were she to obtain the use of it. I agree with you that she doesn’t want to be white, it’s just an idea of how she sees herself dressed for certain occasions. (As a…

yeah, just popped over from the i09 take and...yeah...i’m just gonna read Kinitra’s takes on it from now on. so much more intimate and thoughtful nuance less concerned with typical sci-fi/horror storytelling tropes, and more focused on the meat and gristle of the message.  not to say that Charles’ own critique of the…