New TV Show Dramatizes Prisoner’s Re-entry
In July 2024, the second season premiered of UnPrisoned, a series on TV streaming service Hulu that tells the story of a father rebuilding a relationship with his daughter after serving 17 years in prison. Dealing with reentry after incarceration and its effects on families distinguishes the show from other prison dramas that focus on incarceration itself.
Actor Delroy Lindo, who plays newly freed father Edwin Alexander, says the show deals with the problems faced by families decimated by mass incarceration. Season 1 debuted in March 2023 and explored the emotional injury that Edwin’s long absence inflicted upon daughter Paige, a messy but perfectionistic relationship therapist and single mom. Paige’s life in Minneapolis is turned upside down when her dad gets out of prison and moves in with her and her teenage son.
The more recent premiere of Season 2 promises a deep dive into intergenerational trauma of abandonment, anxiety and mistrust. Critics say it depicts the hard work that Edwin, Paige and grandson Finn must do to break the trauma cycle and heal. In addition to Lindo, the series stars Kerry Washington as Paige and Faly Rakotohavana as her son.
Cristina Escobar, a Roger Ebert reviewer, claimed the series is about much more than healing trauma, though. She celebrated how the characters “are more than the worst things they have experienced, even as their pasts remain present.” Escobar added that UnPrisoned is a show about “family, growth, and Black joy, and it’s a damn good one.”
Sources: Billboard, New York Times, Roger Ebert
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