The Other Black Girl

[BetterButter]

 

[AnimeMania]

The Other Black Girl is a 10 Episode Drama/Comedy TV Series streaming on September 13, 2023 on Hulu, an adaptation of the 2021 novel, The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris.
"The Other Black Girl" follows Nella, an African-American editorial assistant, who is tired of being the only Black employee at Wagner Books, a starkly white NYC publishing firm, so she's excited when Hazel is hired. But as Hazel's star begins to rise, Nella spirals out as she begins to receive nasty notes at her desk and discovers something sinister is going on at the company. Is Hazel an ally or an enemy? The TV Series is a darkly comedic take on workplace politics and the importance of female friendship.

Eric McCormack as Richard Wagner, the founder and editor-in-chief of Wagner Books. 

Bellamy Young as Vera Parini, a Hampton’s WASP who is one of the most exalted editors at Wagner Books. She is Nella’s boss, demanding excellence from her team for her authors who she takes meticulous care of all the time.

Brian Baumgartner as Colin

Sinclair Daniel as Nella, an editorial assistant at Wagner Books, a bookish horror fan who is inclined to be a people-pleaser.

Hunter Parrish as Owen, Nella’s family-oriented boyfriend of three years who works as a middle school principal.

Brittany Adebumola as Malaika, an old lady at heart, who is queer and constantly comparing notes on life goals.

Ashleigh Murray as Hazel-May McCall, an unapologetically Black and Harlem-cool assistant. 

Garcelle Beauvais as Diana Gordon, a world renowned author who has been best friends with Kendra Rae Phillips, the former Black editor at Wagner. They lived in the same neighborhood and remained besties all throughout college, and Kendra Rae even edited the book that launched her into stardom. Since the book came out, the pair have grown apart.

Cassi Maddox as Kendra Rae Phillips, a former Black editor at Wagner

[Harvey]

Looks promising. I'll check this out once it drops.

[hula-la]

Loved the book. Hopefully, it will be picked up in Canada. 

[AnimeMania]

The Other Black Girl      September 13, 2023     Hulu

Episodes 1-10        Titles and Descriptions 

Spoiler

S01.E01: They Say I'm Different

Nella meets Hazel, a new coworker at Wagner Books, who may not be exactly what she seems.

S01.E02: After the Storm

After the blow up with Colin, Nella has to decide whether or not to apologize, and whether or not she can trust Hazel.

S01.E03: I Know a Place

Nella and Hazel try to start over, while Nella digs deeper into the mystery of Kendra Rae Phillips.

S01.E04: What About Your Friends

Nella meets Diana Gordon, a famous author and her hero, and Nella invites Hazel over to meet her friends.

S01.E05: Don't You Want Me

A leak of Colin’s book causes pandemonium at Wagner, and tensions boil over between Nella and Vera.

S01.E06: Fake Smile

As Hazel maneuvers her way deeper into Nella’s life, Nella begins to feel overwhelmed by mounting responsibility at work and growing suspicion of Hazel.

S01.E07: Caught in the Rapture

Hazel invites Nella and Malaika to her house for a girls’ night, but the more of Hazel’s life they see, the more uneasy they feel.

S01.E08: The End of Love

Nella’s worst fears begin to come true as she tries to put all the pieces together before the launch of Diana’s new imprint.

S01.E09: To Be Young Gifted & Broke

We learn more about Hazel and exactly what happened in Boston.

S01.E10: Down with Disease
(Season Finale)

Nella faces the ultimate decision and must choose between everything she’s worked for and the safety of everyone she loves.

[chaifan]

I've only watched the first episode, and I'm really liking it.  I did not expect it to have a scary subplot to it, and I'm interested to see how that plays out. 

[Snazzy Daisy]

This is not my cup of tea. I have stopped watching after episode 2.

The only likeable character is Malaika. Nella is annoyingly frustrating.

The music - sucks.

[North of Eden]

Only watched two episodes but the protagonist is too stupid beyond belief...up for promotion and you insult the biggest client against your boss's explicit warnings? It's inconceivable she could have risen to her posistion with the lack of judgment.

Episode 2-don't believe The Other Black Girl would embarrass a senior member of the team by basically calling out that she stole her assistant's idea.

The show is not operating on any sense of reality which reminds me it seems like it doesn't need the supernatural element but there it is. 

All said I will watch the whole thing.

[Sesquipedalia]

I loved the book. The ending of the show was a lot less dark, which is ironic given that one of Wagner's main crimes was replacing a dark ending with a happy one. I'm fine with it though because it leaves the door open for another season. I hope participation in this forum is not representative of interest in this show! 

[bilgistic]

I watched the series over the past few days and enjoyed it for the most part. I hate the cliffhanger ending, though. Just give me a season with a resolution, especially because so often streaming services don't renew a show for a second season.

An explanation about the properties of the magic hair grease would've been nice. So just...Diana invented hair grease that helps Black women achieve their ambitions but at a cost that was also not fully explained? The random flickering lights didn't help. That usually means ghosts in a show or movie.

[txhorns79]

2 hours ago, bilgistic said:

An explanation about the properties of the magic hair grease would've been nice. So just...Diana invented hair grease that helps Black women achieve their ambitions but at a cost that was also not fully explained? The random flickering lights didn't help. That usually means ghosts in a show or movie.

This.  I would have appreciated some explanation as to what made the hair grease so special.  It seemed to kind of hypnotize people, but the rest of the plan seemed to essentially be about giving the women makeovers and lifestyle upgrades, tamping down on behavior that might seem threatening to white people and using pre-existing connections to advance the women.  I didn't understand the lights flickering or what that was about.   

[Meedis]

I wound up burning through the episodes after a few seatings.  Overall I liked it a lot.   My fave character was the best friend Maliaka of course with her various one-liners.   But really Mailaka, as smart as you were, standing in the middle of the street to warn your bff to "Get Out" wasn't the best move.

I'm guessing that grease must be slowing eating up their brains as evidenced by the moment when Hazel was bleeding from the scalp.   But I do agree it would've been nice to learn more about the formula and how Kendra (I think that was the editor's name) managed to escape from its grips and later reappeared to battle her former bff Diana.

I do hope this comes back for a Season 2 but with the writer's strike happening, I'm not sure on the odds.   

[SoMuchTV]

On 9/19/2023 at 1:07 AM, Sesquipedalia said:

I hope participation in this forum is not representative of interest in this show! 

Just speaking for myself, but given the nature of the show and the fact that all the episodes dropped at once, I’m going to avoid the forum until I’m done, since we don’t have separate episode threads. I only just finished it, and at the moment I probably have more spare time than a lot of people. 

That said, I did enjoy watching but have the same issues as some other posters regarding the things that weren’t fleshed out or explained very well. I did like the ending and I didn’t really consider it a cliffhanger. I haven’t read the book but now I might seek it out.