The Good Lord Bird (miniseries)

The Good Lord Bird is a 2020 American historical drama television miniseries, based on the 2013 novel of the same name by James McBride. Focusing on John Brown's attack on American slavery, the series was created and executive produced by Ethan Hawke and Mark Richard. Produced by Jason Blum, through Blumhouse Television, it premiered on October 4, 2020, on Showtime.^[5]

The Good Lord Bird
Official poster
Genre	Historical drama Dark comedy[1][2]
Created by	Ethan Hawke Mark Richard
Based on	The Good Lord Bird by James McBride
Starring	Ethan Hawke Hubert Point-Du Jour Beau Knapp Nick Eversman Ellar Coltrane Jack Alcott Mo Brings Plenty Daveed Diggs Joshua Caleb Johnson
Opening theme	"Come on Children, Let's Sing" by Mahalia Jackson[3]
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of episodes	7
Production
Executive producers	Jason Blum Ethan Hawke Mark Richard Padraic McKinley Albert Hughes Jeremy Gold Marci Wiseman James McBride[4] Brian Taylor Ryan Hawke David Schiff Marshall Persinger
Production location	Richmond, Virginia
Running time	46–57 minutes
Production companies	Under The Influence Mark 924 Entertainment Blumhouse Productions
Original release
Network	Showtime
Release	October 4 (2020-10-04) – November 15, 2020 (2020-11-15)

Premise

The series is told from the point of view of Henry "Onion" Shackleford (Joshua Caleb Johnson), a fictional enslaved boy, who is part of John Brown's (Ethan Hawke) motley crew of abolitionist soldiers during the time of Bleeding Kansas, eventually participating in the famous 1859 raid on the Federal Armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (since 1863, West Virginia). Brown's raid failed to initiate a slave revolt as he intended, but it was one of the events that started the American Civil War.^[6]

It is not just the story of Brown but that of those that accompanied him. According to Hawke, "If you really study this character, he asks a lot of you philosophically. He challenges why so many of us accept the unacceptable". Author James McBride was involved in the production and according to him, "John Brown is a real hero to me and to many Black people who are no longer alive. John Brown gave his life and two of his sons' lives to the cause of freedom for Black people, and he started the Civil War. They buried this man's story for a long time....".^[7]

Cast

Main

• Ethan Hawke as John Brown^[8]
• Hubert Point-Du Jour as Bob
• Beau Knapp as Owen Brown
• Nick Eversman as John Brown Jr.
• Ellar Coltrane as Salmon Brown
• Jack Alcott as Jason Brown
• Mo Brings Plenty as Ottawa Jones
• Daveed Diggs as Frederick Douglass
• Joshua Caleb Johnson as Henry "Onion" Shackleford^[9]

Recurring

• Wyatt Russell as J. E. B. Stuart
• Rafael Casal as John Cook
• McKinley Belcher III as Broadnax
• Steve Zahn as Chase
• Victor Williams as Coachman Jim
• Quentin Plair as Emperor
• Miles Mussenden as Dangerfield Newby
• Ali Amin Carter as Lewis Leary
• Orlando Jones as Hayward Shepherd (The Rail Man)
• Brooks Ashmanskas as Lewis Washington

Guest

• Zainab Jah as Harriet Tubman
• Maya Hawke as Annie Brown
• David Morse as Dutch Henry Sherman
• Alex Sharp as Preacher
• Gia Crovatin as Martha
• Killer Mike as Clarence
• Keith David as Herbert

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date	U.S. viewers (millions)
1	"Meet the Lord"	Albert Hughes	Mark Richard & Ethan Hawke	October 4, 2020 (2020-10-04)	0.251[10]
John Brown and his "Pottawatomie Rifles", including three of his sons, in territorial Kansas meet a young runaway slave. The slave, using the nickname Onion, joins John's group; John believes Onion is a girl and gives her a new store-bought dress, intended for one of his daughters. Throughout the series whites believe Onion is a girl, but the blacks see that he's a boy. Brown's goal is to free all the slaves, which involves killing slavers, in a massacre. John's son Frederick ends up being killed, while another son abandons the group, tired of fighting.
2	"A Wicked Plot"	Kevin Hooks	Erika L. Johnson & Mark Richard	October 11, 2020 (2020-10-11)	0.254[11]
Onion and Bob get separated from the Brown party. Because Onion's skin is so light, he pretends to be white, and that Bob is his slave. Hoping to reach the abolitionist town of Tabor, Iowa, where John Brown and his sons were headed, they are taken, not happily, across the Missouri River to the fictional slave-trading town of Pikesville, Missouri; Bob is put to work in a sawmill, and Onion cleans rooms in the Pikesville Hotel. Onion is central to a planned insurrection of slaves to enable them to escape. The plan is discovered, and 9 slaves about to be hanged are rescued by John Brown and his troop, who arrive with guns and a cannon.[12]
3	"Mister Fred"	Darnell Martin	Erika L. Johnson & Jeff Augustin	October 18, 2020 (2020-10-18)	0.182[13]
Brown, accompanied by Onion, travels by train to Rochester, New York, to talk with Frederick Douglass. Douglass delivers his famous July 4th speech. Douglass tells Brown that he cannot help him by organizing support among the blacks, as Brown wanted. Douglass is a somewhat pompous lecher, though smart and educated; he has two wives, one black and one white. He attempts to seduce Onion. Onion and John meet Emperor, a black escaped slave who is living with Douglass.
4	"Smells Like Bear"	Kevin Hooks	Mark Richard & Kristen SaBerre	October 25, 2020 (2020-10-25)	0.235[14]
Being sought by federal agents, Brown tells Onion to spot them from the smell of the bear grease in their hair. Brown later meets Hugh Forbes, a soldier who fought with Garibaldi, and gives him all his cash, more than Forbes wants, to hire him to train his men in warfare; Forbes, however, leaves town with the money. Onion is disgusted with Brown because he gave away all his money and now they have to walk to Canada. He also feels exploited, the token slave Brown trots out before audiences. Brown gives Onion his grandmother's Bible in atonement. Although Onion is free in Canada, he chooses to remain with Brown. Brown speaks in a church in Chatham, Ontario, the terminus of the Underground Railroad, proclaiming the need for violence to end slavery. He says he is not seeking money, but needs men. He refuses to divulge his plan, which God has put in his heart. Harriet Tubman, called "General", comes forward and tells the audience to trust Brown. They start volunteering. John tells the new recruits of his plan to attack Harpers Ferry, not just to free the slaves, but to start a civil war.
5	"Hiving the Bees"	Haifaa al-Mansour	Mark Richard & Lauren Signorino	November 1, 2020 (2020-11-01)	0.206[15]
Douglass intends to be the most photographed American, but does not smile, to put down the lie to the stereotype of the "Happy Negro". Onion and Cook arrive in Maryland and see Harper's Ferry, Brown's destination. Cook rents the Kennedy farmhouse. Onion looks for more Black people at Colonel Louis Washington's plantation, but they throw him off the property. Maryland is a slave state and blacks think Brown will get them in trouble. Onion talks to "the railroad man", Heyward Shepherd. The rest of Brown's army arrives. The men must stay upstairs to avoid being seen; a neighbor, Mrs. Hoffmaster, calls three times, getting suspicious. Douglass, accompanied by Emperor, comes to Maryland to meet with Brown. Douglass refuses to be a part of Brown's plan. Emperor, however, will go with Brown, so Douglass returns to Rochester alone. Onion meets Annie Brown and Oliver Brown's wife, who are doing the cooking and laundry. Annie and Onion fall in love. As the two women are being sent away before the shooting starts, Onion reveals to Annie his actual gender, and his feelings for her, believing that he will never see her again. He kisses her, and departs.
6	"Jesus Is Walkin'"	Kate Woods	Mark Richard & Erika L. Johnson	November 8, 2020 (2020-11-08)	0.190[16]
Heyward Shepherd gives a passphrase to Onion, for use when the men reach Harpers Ferry. However, Onion forgets to tell them. Jason Brown shoots Shepherd after he is confronted for not knowing the phrase. Now Shepherd cannot rally the local blacks, as he was supposed to do. Brown's ragtag army is gathered together, prepping them for the night's assault on Harper's Ferry. Owen stayed behind to rally the supposed crew of hiving bees. Brown is the only member of the posse who believes in the hiving, so sure that he has the Lord's backing that he neglects the need for a human plan. The negroes that are to help him never appear. Brown and his men take the Armory and station themselves inside the Armory's fire engine house, taking fifty hostages with them. He trades a hostage for breakfast for all. His men want to leave while they still can, but Brown is sure that negroes will appear. Onion disobeys Brown's order to leave and save himself; he and two others return to Col. Washington's, take him hostage and set his slaves free. Jim, Washington's coachman, who kicked Onion off the plantation, tells Col. Washington he has had too many years of him; Washington had sold his mother away. They return to Harpers Ferry in Washington's coach. The raiders that were supposed to hold the bridge are all dead. The survivors cannot flee. The townspeople realize that there has been a murder, an insurrection, and call out the alarm. A stopped train departs and can give an alarm in the next town. Bullets are exchanged; the mayor of Harpers Ferry is killed, and Oliver Brown dies in his father's arms. Federal troops arrive.
7	"Last Words"	Michael Nankin	Mark Richard & Ethan Hawke	November 15, 2020 (2020-11-15)	0.317[17]
Narration from Douglass is heard explaining that the Harpers Ferry raid helped ignite the Civil War. Clarence brings Onion to Brown's prison cell, who notes that Brown had made more of an impact with his words, rather than with blunt violence. Brown's life is shown as a media event. Onion overhears a literal barbershop conversation about whether or not Brown was foolish, comparing him to Jesus. Onion notes the acceleration of public support for abolition, culminating in the Civil War. On the eve of his public hanging, Brown starts to believe that he will be more of an asset to the cause by dying than he ever was by living.

Music

Music in the miniseries is composed of Black musical genres: gospel, blues, and spirituals. Most is performed by Black artists or groups, with the theme song "Come On Children, Let's Sing", a gospel song, sung by Mahalia Jackson. Songs featured in the series include:

• Episode 1

1. The Zion Travelers, "Am I a Soldier of the Lord?"
2. Elmore James, "Shake Your Money Maker"
3. The Zion Travelers, "The Blood"
4. Mahalia Jackson, "I'm On My Way to Canaan"

• Episode 2

1. Nina Simone, "I Shall Be Released"
2. Shuggie Otis, "Sweet Thang"

• Episode 3

1. Brother Joe May and the Bye & Bye, "Afterwhile"
2. Shuggie Otis, "Sweet Thang"
3. The Redemption Harmonizers, "Amazing Grace"

• Episode 4

1. Elvis Presley, "Where Could I Go but to the Lord"
2. Taj Mahal, "She Caught the Katy and Left Me the Mule to Ride"

• Episode 5

1. The Ragged Jubilee, "In the Valley II"
2. Joe and Eddie and the Les Braxter Chorus, "Michael, Row the Boat Ashore"

• Episode 6

1. Mahalia Jackson, "Trouble of the World"

• Episode 7

1. Spirit of Memphis Quartet, "Walking with Jesus"
2. Cast, "Wayfaring Stranger"

Production

Development

Ethan Hawke and Jason Blum adapted the 2013 novel, The Good Lord Bird, for a limited series that premiered on October 4, 2020, on Showtime.^[18] The series was created and executive produced by Hawke and Mark Richard. Jason Blum, via Blumhouse Television, served as a production partner on the miniseries.^[19][20] Albert Hughes, Kevin Hooks, Darnell Martin, and Haifaa al-Mansour, Michael Nankin, and Kate Woods each directed an episode.^[21]

Casting

In August 2019, Daveed Diggs and Wyatt Russell signed on to portray Frederick Douglass and First Lieutenant J. E. B. Stuart.^[22][23][24] In July 2019, Joshua Caleb Johnson and Rafael Casal joined the cast as Henry "Onion" Shackleford and John Cook.^[25]

Filming

Principal photography for the series began in July 2019, in Powhatan, Virginia, near Richmond.^[26][27]

Reception

Critical response

For the series, review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 98% based on 52 reviews, with an average rating of 8.5/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Ethan Hawke dazzles in The Good Lord Bird, an epically irreverent adaptation that does right by its source material's good word."^[28] On Metacritic, the series has a weighted average score of 84 out of 100 based on reviews from 25 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".^[29]

In response to John Lahr's profile of Ethan Hawke,^[30] The New Yorker published a letter to the editor,^[31] written by Marty Brown, a descendant of John Brown. In the letter, Marty Brown welcomes the effort to bring John Brown's story to a wider audience but notes that his characterization in the series does not reflect the work of Brown's historians and biographers.^[32]

Accolades

Year	Award	Category	Nominees	Result	Ref.
2021	Critics' Choice Television Awards	Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or TV Movie	Daveed Diggs	Nominated	[33]
			Joshua Caleb Johnson	Nominated
	Golden Globe Awards	Best Actor – Limited Series or Television Film	Ethan Hawke	Nominated	[34]
	Gotham Awards	Breakthrough Series – Long Format	The Good Lord Bird	Nominated	[35][36]
		Outstanding Performance in a New Series	Ethan Hawke	Won
	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series	Erika L. Johnson & Mark Richard (for "A Wicked Plot")	Nominated	[37]
	Peabody Awards	Entertainment honorees	Showtime Presents Blumhouse Television, Mark 924 Entertainment, Under the Influence Productions	Won	[38]
	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Main Title Design	Efrain Montanez, Eduardo Guisandes, and Abigail Fairfax	Won	[39]
	Satellite Awards	Best Miniseries & Limited Series	The Good Lord Bird	Won	[40]
		Best Actor in a Miniseries or TV Film	Ethan Hawke	Won
		Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries or Television Film	Joshua Caleb Johnson	Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series	Ethan Hawke	Nominated	[41]
	Television Critics Association Awards	Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries and Specials	The Good Lord Bird	Nominated	[42]
		Individual Achievement in Drama	Ethan Hawke	Nominated
	Writers Guild of America Awards	Long Form – Adapted	Jeff Augustin, Ethan Hawke, Erika L. Johnson, Mark Richard, Kristen SaBerre, and Lauren Signorino; Based on the novel by James McBride	Nominated	[43]