(Spoiler alert: Please do not keep reading if you haven’t seen Wednesday’s Season 1 finale of “Underground”)
“Underground” introduced a major new character in the closing moments of the Season 1 finale.
Rosalee (Jurnee Smollett-Bell) finally has her freedom, but realizes she cannot sit idly by while her fellow slaves remain in bondage. So, she decides to return to the South. Upon her arrival, she is greeted by a shadowy figure who introduces herself as “Harriet.”
That’s right. It looks like the hit Underground Railroad series will finally be working Harriet Tubman into the series after all.
TheWrap spoke with the creators of the series back in April after it was announced that Tubman would appear on the new $20 bill, and co-creator Misha Green teased Tubman’s arrival. “When she will arrive, I don’t know, but you can’t tell the story of the Underground Railroad without her,” Green said.
In the same interview, Green applauded the decision to make Tubman not only the first woman, but the first black person, to appear on U.S. paper currency.
“We’ve always said the show ‘Underground’ is about American heroes, so to finally have not only a woman but a black woman on a monetary bill is fantastic,” said.
“We use money all the time. We’re used to seeing these faces of these white males and now we’re excited that we’re starting to represent our actual history,” co-creator Joe Pokaski added.
Produced by Sony Pictures Television and Tribune studios, “Underground” was created by Green and Pokaski, who executive produce alongside Academy Award-winner Akiva Goldsman of Weed Road Pictures; and Joby Harold and Tory Tunnell of Safehouse Pictures.
Grammy and Academy Award winner John Legend and his Get Lifted partners Mike Jackson and Ty Stiklorius also executive produce. Additionally, Get Lifted oversees all elements of the show’s music. Anthony Hemingway directs and serves as executive producer for the first four episodes.