On its face, “61st Street” labors to give the residents of the neighborhood a voice. A brief note for any geographically uninitiated viewers: the series takes place in the affluent African American corner of Hyde Park (the Obamas once lived there) and the economically disparate Woodlawn community. Two train lines, the Green and the Red, shape the boundaries of both neighborhoods, with the Red line in particular forming the central vein, running south to north, from the poorer, predominantly Black areas to the city’s well-off white population.
In this setting, Moses Johnson (Tosin Cole), a talented African American runner in the 400m, unwittingly becomes embroiled in a larger systematic war within Chicago’s police department. Opposite Moses is dedicated public defender Franklin Roberts (Courtney B. Vance), a family man battling cancer. Their paths intersect when a drug bust gone wrong implicates the innocent Moses in the accidental death of police officer Michael Rossi. These characters propel the series, fighting for liberation and equal treatment, steeling their hearts against corruption, and hoping against hope to reach their respective dreams. But “61st Street,” for all its best intentions, struggles to tell these the stories of these two men. The series provides grim and frank lessons concerning race, but cannot avoid blotting out the real character of the people it hopes to defend in lieu of heart-wrenching tribulations.
From the jump, every character dotting the series executive produced by Michael B. Jordan and Vance is difficult to pin down, from the police, to the drug dealers, parents, and lawyers. They all see Rossi’s death and Moses’ trial as golden opportunities. The underhanded goon Lt. Tardelli (Holt McCallany) thinks the tragedy can turn the anti-police tide in his favor, uniting the department while keeping its shady dealings obscured from public view. Roberts believes the clear frame job opens a chance for systematic reform. His wife Martha (a captivating and powerful Aunjanue Ellis), running for Alderman, promises to combat over-policing, and this moment provides her further evidence atop a mountain of other tragic examples. The warring gangs, the Nation and the Faction, see an excuse to consolidate power. Even Moses’ fellow inmates, led by his imprisoned father, view him as another soldier in their jailhouse fights.