The Other Black Girl, the new Hulu series that is based on the Zakiya Dalila Harris novel of the same name, would best be described as a Jordan Peele-horror story meets Single White Female. At least that’s my main takeaway after watching the ten-episode season (the season ends with enough additional story to support a second season, should Hulu want to invest in it). And that’s absolutely not a criticism – I love Jordan Peele films and the eerie nature of a story like Single White Female makes for a solid combo. But I couldn’t help but wish the story – which eventually veers into more dark supernatural storytelling as the story unfolds – had ground itself a bit more in reality once its major twist (and it’s a good twist!) was revealed late in the season.
The Other Black Girl follows Nella Rogers (a solid Sinclair Daniels, who does a great job playing the audience-surrogate lead), the only Black woman working at a successful publishing house. Once her cube neighbor Yang leaves the company, she becomes the only person of color, period, at the company. So, when Hazel-May McCall (Ashleigh Murray, strong in a mysterious role) takes over Yang’s empty desk, Nella is excited to finally have another Black woman by her side. What seems to be the perfect partnership – finally, there’s someone who can understand the various micro-aggressions Nella experiences every day or someone to commiserate with when Nella’s vapid, White boss Vera (Bellamy Young, playing the role with aplomb) says something just on the edge of racist – starts to curdle as Hazel starts taking meetings with the company’s Editor-in-Chief, Richard (Eric McCormack), and snagging credit for Nella’s ideas, and leaving Nella out to dry when she confronts a troublesome new book from one of their successful authors.
Nella’s best friend Malaika (Brittany Adebumola, who steals every scene she’s in) warns that Hazel sounds like trouble, but Nella, still so excited to have another Black woman in the office with her, is more than willing to overlook the various red flags and opts to team up with Hazel for her dream project: The relaunch of “Burning Heart,” a massive smash hit novel for the publisher, which happened to tell a groundbreaking tale of a Black woman’s journey to fulfillment. This project brings the internationally celebrated author of the book, Diana Gordon (Garcelle Beauvais, great in her supporting role), into Nella’s orbit, and unearths a hidden story surrounding Kendra Rae Phillips, the missing former-editor who shepherded the original release of the novel – and was the only Black editor to ever work at Wagner Books.
Now, this is a horror thriller with a solid comedic edge at times (Malaika’s work trying to ferret out just what is really happening with Hazel is the source of a number of laughs throughout), so there’s a dark underbelly to the tale that works within the confines of the story being told – as in, none of the twists and turns feel unearned – but none of the reveals are as troubling or as scary as the insidious racism and lack of institutional support that Nella deals with on a daily basis at work. While the series certainly highlights this aspect of life at the very White Wagner Books, it’s tackled on a more surface level compared to the horror elements of the plot, which are given a great deal of screen time throughout the back half of the series. I would have enjoyed the series a bit more had the real world horror been given the same focus and weight as the supernatural elements of the story – which are fine, but never really hit the same as those we can find in our real everyday lives.
But, in the grand scheme of things, it’s a relatively minor complaint to have. Could a few of the characters been fleshed out a bit more? Could we have spent a bit more time on Kendra Rae Phillips’ story? Sure. However, I found myself fully drawn into the tale by the end of the third episode, eager to find out just what Hazel’s deal was – and whether or not Nella would be able to see her for what she was before it was too late. The performances were uniformly strong, the episodes never dragged, and the story was compelling enough to make me hit next time and time again. If you’re looking for an interesting, short thriller, The Other Black Girl might just be the show for you.
The Other Black Girl premieres on September 13 on Hulu. All ten episodes were provided for review.
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