This is a thrilling adventure that spans continents, because growing up can feel just as difficult.

Full Review | Jul 29, 2025

Those four episodes pack a lot into them and although it’s normal to assume given Brown’s profile he would be, he isn’t the primary star (he executive produces). The overall narrative, Karanja and Junior are, however.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Jul 28, 2025

It’s a charming series and the characters are very appealing with histories and fates you want to invest in.

Full Review | Jul 28, 2025

The performances, particularly those of the actors playing Wash, are excellent.

Full Review | Jul 25, 2025

Non-Wash flashbacks and numerous side plots threaten to overstuff Washington Black. Still, the actual meat of the story — Wash's journey — remains solid, balancing contemplations on freedom and identity with adventurous flair.

Full Review | Jul 25, 2025

A confident series that manages to be old-fashioned and modern all at once—clear-eyed about historical truths but also full of whimsical dreams that transcend their time.

Full Review | Jul 25, 2025

The moral instruction may be a bit heavy-handed, but the more swashbuckling elements -- a mix of Kipling, Twain, Jules Verne and even Frederick Douglass -- make for an old-fashioned adventure. What daydreaming kid wouldn’t want to run away with pirates?

Full Review | Jul 24, 2025

While it may lack the same power that characterized the original book, it is visually striking and has memorable characters. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 24, 2025

In the end, Wash comes to realize that it’s up to him to create the life and world he wants for himself. It’s just a shame that the one he inhabits onscreen cannot entirely live up to the one on the page.

Full Review | Original Score: C+ | Jul 24, 2025

Best of all, showrunners Selwyn Seyfu Hinds and Kimberly Ann Harrison balance the joys of youthful discovery with the frustrations of entering adulthood.

Full Review | Original Score: B- | Jul 24, 2025

Washington Black has a sense of swashbuckling adventure to it, even though it’s a story with serious undertones about slavery and how being in a safe harbor didn’t mean enslaved people were really free.

Full Review | Jul 24, 2025

There is value here; this is a show worth watching... The show seems to be aware of this, though, and responds in kind -- to the point that it begins to feel heavy-handed, overwrought, bordering on didactic.

Full Review | Jul 23, 2025

The wanderlust world of faith, hope, and trust is explored in such a beautiful and impactful way with gorgeous set pieces, costumes, and visuals making Washington Black a must-watch.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Jul 23, 2025

Expansive and spanning multiple countries and continents, “Washington Black” is aesthetically unique with a grand scope. Yet, it falls just short of grasping the magical essence of Edugyan’s words.

Full Review | Jul 23, 2025

The show’s ending, in particular, is a master class in betraying the spirit of your material.

Full Review | Jul 23, 2025

As to Wash, it’s not enough that he’s a gifted artist and scientist; the show introduces him as “a boy brave enough to change the world.”

Full Review | Jul 23, 2025

Washington Black comes with plenty of potential and, as an exercise in world-building, it is rich and appealing. But, unlike the Cloud Cutter, this is a creation that never takes flight.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 23, 2025

The characters all speak in cue-card aphorisms of the sort that primary school teachers pin to the walls. Even the doomed love story is too predictably doomed...Challenging your viewers has got to be better than patronising them.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 23, 2025

There’s such a wealth of feeling, perspective, and intelligence to Washington Black that an already entertaining show becomes something truly memorable via a mix of old school storytelling and modern perspectives.

Full Review | Original Score: 9/10 | Jul 22, 2025

Washington Black shares the narrative bones of Esi Edugyan’s acclaimed 2018 novel but pads out the complexity of the source material with episodic adventure and romance.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Jul 22, 2025