The Long Song - General Discussion

[Driad]

This three-part miniseries based on Andrea Levy’s award-winning novel about the end of slavery in Jamaica follows July (Tamara Lawrance), an indomitable, young slave who works on a sugarcane plantation with her detestable mistress, Caroline Mortimer (Hayley Atwell). Their lives change with the arrival of a new overseer, Robert Goodwin (Jack Lowden) who sets out to improve life on the plantation.

[zoey1996]

I’ve seen the first two episodes. Intriguing story.  Mistress Caroline is awful, but so oblivious to how awful she is. Robert Goodwin has his own twisted idea of what is moral. 
During the first episode, July being taken from her mother and given to Miss Caroline broke my heart.  Marguerite/July took chances for her own little rebellions and got away with some of them.  When she carelessly rinsed Miss Caroline’s hair as an example, it was one of those little rebellions, but nothing deliberate was provable.

I haven’t read the book that inspired this series but I expect it to be worth reading.

[Rose Quartz]

I only saw last week's episode, but I was quickly caught up in the story.  Initially I had high hopes for the new overseer since he had some very progressive ideas.  But once he chose to deal with his attraction for Miss July

Spoiler

by marrying the plantation owner and keeping her as his mistress, I knew that didn't bode well for their future. 

I'll watch the final episode tonight, but I'm already prepared for him to break her heart.

[meatball77]

I loved this show.  The end was sad yet at least a bit heartwarming.

[zoey1996]

The final episode was gripping. Master Goodwin thought he had the upper hand, but made huge mistakes by underestimating the workers. He ended leaving as a failure, but still delusional in his righteousness. As they were leaving Amity, I wanted to slap that smug look off Mistress Caroline’s face. How they managed to take Emily from July was so devious and cruel. 
July was nearly broken by it all, but survived, struggling with life. When I watched the courtroom scene, I just knew that the young man was her son, and so happy that it was true, that she got her boy back after such a long separation.

This was a moving story and one that should be told.  

[Rose Quartz]

Well, I knew Goodwin was going to break July's heart but I didn't expect them to take her baby with them to England.  I assumed Caroline wouldn't want a reminder of her husband's infidelity, plus it didn't look like she'd be able to pass Emily off as her child.

I was glad that at least July got something of a happy ending with her son finding her and rescuing her from poverty, as well as her hope that by writing her story Emily might one day see it and learn about her real mother.

[chaifan]

This was a lovely mini-series, but I wish they made it 4, or even 5 episodes.  The 3rd episode seemed rushed, and there was easily so much more story to tell.  How did July survive all those years?  How did her son find her?  How did he reach his position?  Did the novel just jump forward 20+ years, too?  or was there more source material that could have been used?

Haley Atwell was unrecognizable to me, and I think she did a great job of portraying such as miserable, reprehensible, clueless person.  I thought Goodwin was going to go mad before he left.

Historical question, if anyone knows... what happened to the actual physical estates when the owners (like Goodwin) just up and left?  Were they bought by other white men, or left to ruin, or what?

[Dr.OO7]

On 2/17/2021 at 3:10 PM, chaifan said:

Historical question, if anyone knows... what happened to the actual physical estates when the owners (like Goodwin) just up and left?  Were they bought by other white men, or left to ruin, or what?

I can't speak to all of them, but at least one place, Devon House, is now a historical site in Kingston. 

My family is from Jamaica, so I was thrilled to see this. I literally just finished going through the episodes on my DVR.

Excellent writing, acting, sets, costumes, etc.

I knew it was likely that things would end badly for July and Goodwin, but I never expected it to be as bad as THAT. Dear God, he broke MY heart just as much as July's. I can't believe he did such a complete 180° turn. The contrast between the man in Episode 2 and the man in Episode 3 was absolutely stunning. Even as Caroline was saying he didn't want to see her, I thought she was lying and I thought there was some hidden message in him saying "Miss July" before he left. Not until she realized that they'd taken Emily did it finally hit me what a complete bastard he'd turned into.

Talk about a bittersweet ending--her son finds her and she's clearly living a good life, but she's always going to wonder what happened to Emily.

What an eerie parallel--she's the result of her mother's rape by an overseer, them she has a child with an overseer. Caroline takes her away from her mother, then takes HER child away.

Edited March 1, 2021 by Dr.OO7

[babyrambo]

Super late to the party but I’ve only just watched this show and after looking up reviews I realize I’m in the minority because I thought this show was terrible. 
 

Well acted and nicely costumed but that’s about all the praise I’ve got for this series. The lack of depth given to July is appalling. I haven’t read the book so I can’t say much about if this sticks to the original story but the way they portrayed July in the show, as so besotted with that man that she blithely goes along with his misbehaviour and doesn’t grasp the horrors of her reality until she’s brutally betrayed is baffling. There are hints of her defiance and intelligence in the first episode but all of that fades the second she meets the overseer because…he’s got beautiful eyes and is nice sometimes? Yuck. Insta-love at its worst. Yes, July is taken with whiteness and boasts her own proximity to it but there’s something insidious about the refusal to dig deeper or explore the intricacies of hers and the overseers relationship past physicality and bland platitudes. She’s a callous wench at worst and a selfish fool at best and both actress and character deserved better than such a watered depiction of such an intricate character and role. 

The pacing didn’t help either. This definitely needed 6 episodes because the jump from a young July to an old woman was jarring. What happened in all those years? How did she just happen to run into her son and how did the relationship develop? Who knows, the show definitely doesn’t! I’m almost glad this was a short series because it was a major disappointment. Giant waste of a compelling story that would’ve easily thrived in more talented hands.