2.690 minSeason 1 • Episode 4
LatestChicken George returns to the Lea farm after 20 years. George's son, Tom, nurses a grudge against his father. George and Cyrus join the Memphis Colored Battery. Tom returns home after the war to embark on a new life with his family.
An adaptation of Alex Haley's "Roots", chronicling the history of an African slave, Kunta Kinte sold to America and his descendants.
Acting
Malachi Kirby's Kunta Kinte is volcanic, then shattered, then steel.
Direction
Each episode shifts visual language to match its era's horror.
Writing
The 'Kunta Kinte' scene will wreck you. Say his name.
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Haley's 1976 novel was partially plagiarized from 'The African' by Harold Courlander; this 2016 adaptation distances itself while keeping the name that became a cultural phenomenon.
LeVar Burton, original 1977 Kunta Kinte, appears as a freedman at the Christmas party—a torch-passing that wrecked the cast emotionally during filming.
US
