Underground (2016–2017): Season 2, Episode 1 - Contraband - full transcript
The remaining members of the Macon 7 have made it North, but they've learned that freedom is not as simple as crossing a line.
Previously on Underground...
I think I found it,
the way to the promised land.
It's-it's a song.
The map may be hidden in the words.
It's gonna be the slaves
left behind that's gonna
- pay the price.
- Don't act like you care about nobody else.
You only care about yourself.
That's why I don't mean
to be left behind.
Mama, you ever
think about another life?
Oh, yes. I've imagined
thousands of different lives.
You think you're better
than me, don't you?
We have to go. Now.
We gotta run!
Run!
I've never had a runaway before.
If my paddy rollers haven't
retrieved them by nightfall,
consider yourself hired.
Do whatever it takes to get her free!
These are papers,
for you and your daughter.
You can't trust nothing that woman says.
There gonna be catchers on their heel
every step of the way.
There's a price
on your head, dead or alive.
Calling y'all the Macon 7!
I killed her.
I protect my babies.
We suspect there might be
someone aiding runaways
in the area.
Hyah!
Slave catchers are flooding the area,
looking for the high reward.
There's nothing stopping me
from putting you on the block.
What do you want?
I want to be counted!
It's our hands that built this country.
Noah the one
that brought us the freedom.
But he gave up his freedom for me.
Wherever he is, he's still fighting.
All that's behind you now.
No, it ain't.
I'm going back.
"Sol...
"d...
"Sol... di...
Sol...
"Soldier." Soldier.
Soldier.
Move! Towards the water!
Go!
Hold! Make another move,
and I'll shoot your head clean off.
I could say the same.
My arms are mighty tired,
and I aim to end this quick.
It's gonna be over quick you don't shut
your mouth, put them weapons down.
Ain't nobody got to die today.
Not over no hurt nigger.
Ain't that right?
Gonna be more trouble than it's worth,
trying to get a man who
can't walk to collect a reward.
Anybody can see his ankle broken.
So how's about we make
a sale right here?
I's give you five dollars for him.
Same as y'all would've got,
and five for your hassle.
We got three runaways,
you want to pay us for one?
You ain't got nothin' yet.
Ten dollars or two bullets,
it's your choice.
I ain't scared of no nigger bitches.
And ain't nobody scared of you.
My daddy taught me how
to carve up a tree real good.
I imagine your skin would be
a bit easier to handle.
Now, you heard me say my arms is tired.
So what's it gonna be?
every injury includes
a violation of a right.
This is as true today
as it was when Justice Wilson
said it 60 years ago.
Justice Wilson also stated
that property is a right...
and lawful power,
which a person has to a thing.
Objection. How does this
apply to a murder case?
The crime is not murder.
It is theft.
The accused is, himself,
stolen property, above all,
and must be extradited south.
- For the love of God, John, you're an abolitionist.
- My political beliefs
do not trump my vow to uphold the law.
And they certainly don't trump
my familial ties, Mr. Crane.
Mr. Hawkes, the accused
is a runaway who...
Your Honor, under
the Fugitive Slave Act,
the accused is still
the property of Suzanna Macon.
What he did in Ohio, while...
reprehensible...
is secondary to the property crime.
Therefore, Noah Macon
- must be returned to Georgia.
- Objection, Your Honor!
Overruled.
His argument is not without merit.
However, I'm well aware
of the stall tactics
that you're referencing, Mr. Crane.
Mr. Hawkes, I woke up to yet another
stack of papers...
would you care to summarize?
My client fears that while we wrestle
over semantics in this courtroom,
what is rightfully hers
is rotting away.
He's been in there the north
side of five months, Your Honor.
Who knows what kind of state he's in?
Chow time!
We do it tomorrow
or we can't do it at all.
The guards got guns.
That's why we're
gonna get our own weapons.
- Maybe we hold back a bit.
- We can't.
Two days' time, they gonna
roll us back to Tennessee.
Maybe massa won't punish.
Remember what happened to Renwick?
Of course I remember Renwick.
We ain't gonna end up like him.
It's my fault they caught us.
Sometimes we just get unlucky.
Bad luck's been going around.
Pastor Grant, the Grimké sisters.
Everybody's running into patrols
across the river.
They ain't follow us.
Moses paid 'em off.
- Really?
- Mm-hmm.
You'd be surprised
how many times it's worked.
They just want the money,
not the trouble.
Some of them want the trouble, too.
Remember that.
It's feeling mighty cold in here.
I'll get some more wood on the fire.
Harriet gonna
want to keep movin'.
- He can't travel.
- You might have to stay here, too.
We had a good day in court today.
I think the judge is seriously
considering my motion
to send him back south.
- When?
- Could be soon.
They've granted my request to...
inspect Suzanna's property.
But there's gonna be guards
with us the whole time.
I haven't seen him in so long.
I know.
What if this don't go our way?
Then I'll keep filing motions,
prolong the process,
keep stalling this trial
till we figure out
a way to get him back.
Got a lot of night left.
With a bit of rest.
Food in their bellies.
We ought to push on.
Well, Valentine's break is bad.
Infection might be settling in.
I figured as much. I told Miss Elizabeth
to wire ahead, let 'em know
the cargo gonna be light.
Mary can get him some medicine
from the hospital,
help him heal faster.
I suppose that means
you stayin' behind, too.
John say they may move Noah soon.
This plan of yours is dangerous.
Everything we do is dangerous.
There's a world of difference
between you stealing away
with somebody in the night
and stealing them
from an armed chain gang headed south.
The Lord sent you to me
to get your family back.
You ain't gonna be able to do
that you-you dead or in chains.
Noah is my family.
He gave up his freedom for Boo and me.
He ain't blood.
And hearts change.
I know John hurt you,
but this ain't like
when you went back for him.
Road you got ahead of you, 600 miles
Deep South.
Stealing yours from the hell
you barely escaped, then 600 miles
back through enemy territory.
You did it with your kin.
Maryland ain't Georgia. You got
to keep your head straight.
This rescue gonna be the
toughest thing you ever done.
And Noah gonna be able to help.
I'll get him back.
Together, we're gonna get
the rest of my family.
All up now!
All up now!
All up now!
All up now! All up now!
Hair and nails are a good
indication of health.
Teeth, as well.
No rot.
That's a good sign.
Turn around. Lift up your feet.
Higher.
- No sores.
- If the judgment falls
my client's way, she'd like him
on the first transport back to Georgia.
Well, there's something heading
that way tomorrow evening,
hauling back two
runaways from Tennessee.
Back around.
Take a look at his eyes.
- What am I supposed to be seeing?
- Not a speck of yellow.
No jaundice. He's in good shape.
Yeah, I'd like to keep it that way.
You're not taking him across
the Red Creek bridge, are you?
That thing looks like a devil's
grin. It's falling apart.
I just put 'em in
chains and on the wagon.
Want to know the route,
talk to the marshals.
I will. And it gets cold down by
the riverbank when the sun sets.
Could you scare him up a blanket?
All right, let's wrap up here.
My niece is down from Canada.
She's excited to reunite with
the rest of her family.
Papers?
Yes, sir.
What's your name?
Mary.
Excuse me, you with the broom?
That bed has just been vacated.
Attend to the dirty sheets, please.
Hold him down. Hold him down.
Hold him down. Nurse?
Take my keys.
And get the ether
from the supply closet.
Steady... steady.
Oh!
Sorry.
Hello.
Can I help you with something?
I'm Elizabeth Hawkes.
Uh, a-a friend of a friend sent me?
Frederick Douglass.
Lucretia Mott.
Uh,
Cassius... Marcellus Clay.
I always have trouble
pronouncing that last one, as well.
I've heard so much about
you and your husband
from Mr. Still's letters.
It's nice to finally put a face
with the name. I'm Georgia.
For a moment there, I thought
I was in the wrong place.
Mr. Still told me the code.
Uh, red cloth for a meeting,
the address is on the card...
And the number of eggs denotes
the time. You got it right.
When you didn't respond to the eggs...
Well, I've just never had anyone
bring them back before,
much less as a snack.
- Oh.
- It was thoughtful, and we could always
use the food around here.
Come on, I'll introduce you
to the other ladies.
Arthur believes the rednecks
have gotten word of the rally
and intend to make their presence known.
I welcome their attendance.
Perhaps they will learn something.
- Amen.
- Of course,
there'll be law enforcement
there to keep the peace.
We'll need 'em if
those boys from Lawrence
stampede into town in time.
Well, let us all pray they don't.
Ladies, meet Elizabeth. This is Anne,
Abigail, Sally,
and the one eating all
my award-winning jam is her
- sister Emily.
- It really is fantastic jam.
Hence the award.
So, did everyone bring their kits?
Oh, yes.
Not exactly what you expected?
I didn't know what to expect,
but I did think there
would be some sewing.
Oh, we do that, too.
Occasionally.
Welcome to the sewing circle.
Hey, chow time!
You got any idea what you just done?
That plan of yours
was gonna get you killed.
How the hell you know that?
That gate made of cast iron.
Keyhole on the other side.
By the time you pushed it over,
that guard on the other side of
the wall would've shot you down.
What guard?
You see that ash on that window?
He come by every day
right after the slop brought in.
He share one of them cigarettes
with some of the others.
Probably the guy that opens that gate.
Y'all notice he smell like smoke? Hmm?
Now, maybe if you made
your move at dinnertime,
you'd've got past the gate.
But you'd've ran right
into the marshal's office
across the street.
How you know
where the marshal office is?
You ever hear of the Macon 7?
All the same, why you
care we get ourselves kilt?
I don't.
But if you try and you fail,
you might compromise my escape.
Now, this time tomorrow, all three of us
gonna be put on a transport wagon.
We gonna be pulled
across the Ohio River,
past this rickety bridge,
looks like a devil's grin.
As soon as the sun sets,
the wagon gonna be stopped.
- Stopped by what?
- Spooked horse,
fallen tree. It don't matter.
We just need to be ready
when my friends arrive.
If you trust me, by this time tomorrow,
we gonna all be free men.
Line it up!
Master Roe wants that
western patch cleared.
How long you figure that's gonna take?
I say about three weeks.
Well, I want it in four days!
Got to trench and drench it
in time for the harvest.
A-A lot of trees
in that stretch there, sir.
Twice as much as we been doin',
and we a man down...
- What's that, boy?
- Sorry, sir.
You keep your mouth shut!
The humiliation suffered
by those in bondage is real.
It is raw.
No one is talking about it honestly.
We all just read
a narrative about a man
so badly beaten
he can no longer lift his arms.
Father Henson's Story.
Have you come across it, Elizabeth?
I-I can't say that I have.
Well, it's a harrowing read, but
a necessary tool for the cause.
How so?
Do you know what struck the final blow
against the British slave trade?
It was an article.
"Description of a Slave Ship."
The intolerable image
it conjured in the mind
is what turned the tide overseas.
Well, the best literature
has a way of forcing yourself
into a stranger's skin.
It demands empathy.
- Most-most people don't read.
- That's true.
- They don't.
- And to be honest, even those who do,
given the choice, might be reticent
to steep themselves
in the horrors of slavery.
You make a good point.
It may be time to move past
just the catalog of violence
that most narratives portray.
But the fact remains,
the silence around slavery
is an extension of its brutality.
And we aim to put the issue
into every Northern home
that refuses to see
what's really happening.
Well, the narratives raise awareness.
And the rallies. And the bake sales
to raise funds, and abolitionist
prints like The Liberator.
All forms of disruption.
I have to believe
that a true understanding
of what the Southern Negroes
are enduring
will incite good people to action.
All rise!
You may be seated.
Both the defense and the
prosecution have made some
compelling arguments.
While the murder charges
should be treated
with the utmost respect,
Mr. Hawkes is technically correct.
By federal law, the accused
should be taken back to Georgia.
However, this is my courtroom,
- and I can't abide it.
- Your Honor,
- the Fugitive Slave Act is very clear...
- The accused shot a U.S. marshal
on my side of the river,
after he and his Macon 7
ran up the Eastern Seaboard,
terrorizing law-abiding citizens.
I'd like to file a motion.
No, we're well past motions, Mr. Hawkes.
I will not allow you to waste
any more of this court's time.
As an agent of Ohio law...
Quiet, Mr. Hawkes,
or I will find you in contempt.
As an agent of Ohio law,
I am allowed to file a motion!
As the highest agent of Ohio law,
I am allowed to deny said motion.
This is a miscarriage,
and you know it, Your Honor!
Consider yourself in contempt. Bailiffs.
You cannot ignore federal law!
I just did.
This court has ruled.
The accused is guilty of all charges,
and he will hang for what he did.
You says, "Trust me."
You says you can make the law
work in our favor!
How was I supposed
to know that this judge
would just bypass
the entire legal system?
You open your eyes.
This happen all the time.
In the North, in the South,
it don't matter.
Rules don't apply to black folk.
We have to figure out
a way to save Noah.
Gettin' him sent back ain't work.
You were right.
Ain't no way to steal him
till he outside of them walls.
We'd have to get him at the gallows.
A hanging in the middle
of the city would draw a crowd.
We would need one hell
of a distraction.
Maybe Mary
can help us out there.
He is gonna be guarded until the moment
he is handed to the executioner
on that platform.
We'd have no chance to get him
until that noose was around his neck.
I know some of the workers
who built that gallows.
Maybe they can help.
And once we have him,
then we have to escape with him.
And there's only three of us.
Against every marshal
in that square.
There are
more than three of us.
We're part of a movement now.
We can do this.
If any part of this go wrong,
we all end up in jail.
Well, then we're all going to jail.
Yes, and my brother,
he kept on about Canada.
Sayin' there's this town over there.
All black folk.
- Hmm.
- Yeah, I thought
it was too good to be true.
So now I know.
I'm gonna get over there,
I'm gonna find it.
I heard Canada's a big place.
Ah, that's all right.
See, my brother, he a big man.
Well, I'm gonna get on a boat.
Cross that big wide ocean.
Oh, what's over there?
A place called France.
Gonna get me a look at that Mona Lisa.
You seen them giant murals massa
have brought in every year.
- Mm-hmm.
- He brag one 500 years old.
But over there, they 1,000 years old.
I want to see something that old.
How about you?
Where you going when you free?
It don't matter.
Ain't about a place no more.
Let us prosper and be fruitful
in the presence of all good spirits.
- Amen.
- Yes, yes.
Guide us to be faithful and true.
Give we wisdom
for whatever path we want.
Hey!
Your union strengthen all we.
The love we honor
make all we heart gladdy. For truth.
For truth, for truth...
Where you at?
Nowhere.
And this is the one that Tom gave you.
He told me to save it
for a special occasion.
Last time I talked to him.
Which...
felt like the last time.
Even though I didn't know it would be.
He was your brother.
It's okay to miss him.
I tried to draw a line
between family and politics.
But when he hung that man,
Rosalee's brother,
his daughter's brother...
You couldn't do it anymore.
And why should I?
Tom didn't.
The system was built with
the best of intentions,
but those in power have
found ways to corrupt it.
Rosalee's right.
I cannot keep my eyes closed anymore.
John.
Seeing a problem isn't enough.
The system isn't going anywhere.
We have to figure out a way
to disrupt it.
I think that I have.
There is an open seat
on the Court of Commons.
We go down to the courthouse
and we put my name on the ballot.
And then I can start making
rulings that'll help the cause.
What do you think?
I think it's brilliant.
The goddamn ferryman
dumped the crates in the marsh
east of the indigo plantation.
You got to go fish 'em out.
Make sure they ain't
takin' too much of that.
Once I trade 'em, I ain't got no control
over what they do with 'em.
Figure it out.
I want 'em docile, not dead.
You see, this here arrangement, boy,
don't make us friends.
You think about that
next time you feel like talking
out of turn in my fields.
Old buckra.
Sick of rice.
You don't got to eat it.
So this your life now?
Today
the men that stand before you
are guilty of the unspeakable.
They are proven to be a danger
to peace in the state of Ohio,
and society at large.
Only they can know their truth.
Only they can pay for their crimes.
It is our duty
to meet their crimes with retribution.
Citizens will rest at peace tonight
knowing that these murderers
have faced true justice and punishment
for their actions.
Noah Macon,
you have been found guilty as charged
of the crime of murder,
of which the penalty
is death by hanging.
Do you have any last words?
Saul Freeman...
...as stipulated by
the laws of the state of Ohio.
Which speaks as clearly today
as it did in the days of old.
...deserves decisive answers.
Noah, get in, get in!
- Noah! Come on!
- Let's go, come on!
Hyah!
They're coming!
How'd they get on us so fast?
They don't look like marshals.
Hyah! Hyah!
Noah!
Death been
followin' you all around.
And you thought you could beat it.
Sacrificed your dignity,
me,
even your children
at the altar of your privilege.
But that the white in you.
The black ain't never
gonna stop huntin' you.
Tried to forget,
and look what forgettin' got you.
Little girl ran away.
Little boy don't belong to you no more.
And Sam...
well...
he swung from the porch of that
big house you thought you owned.
You sad, pretty, little thing.
I bet you told yourself
you was being tough.
All them pieces you cut out to keep on.
But just 'cause you survived,
don't make you strong.
If you was, you'd just do it.
It's what you want, ain't it?
Ever since you hung massa.
When you gave up.
Just do it.
'Cause this,
you sittin' around waitin'
for him to do it for you,
to beat you to death...
this pitiful!
Just kill yourself.
John?
John!
Where's Noah?
Where's Noah?!
They took him.
The marshals?
Those men were not marshals.
John Hawkes!
I think I found it,
the way to the promised land.
It's-it's a song.
The map may be hidden in the words.
It's gonna be the slaves
left behind that's gonna
- pay the price.
- Don't act like you care about nobody else.
You only care about yourself.
That's why I don't mean
to be left behind.
Mama, you ever
think about another life?
Oh, yes. I've imagined
thousands of different lives.
You think you're better
than me, don't you?
We have to go. Now.
We gotta run!
Run!
I've never had a runaway before.
If my paddy rollers haven't
retrieved them by nightfall,
consider yourself hired.
Do whatever it takes to get her free!
These are papers,
for you and your daughter.
You can't trust nothing that woman says.
There gonna be catchers on their heel
every step of the way.
There's a price
on your head, dead or alive.
Calling y'all the Macon 7!
I killed her.
I protect my babies.
We suspect there might be
someone aiding runaways
in the area.
Hyah!
Slave catchers are flooding the area,
looking for the high reward.
There's nothing stopping me
from putting you on the block.
What do you want?
I want to be counted!
It's our hands that built this country.
Noah the one
that brought us the freedom.
But he gave up his freedom for me.
Wherever he is, he's still fighting.
All that's behind you now.
No, it ain't.
I'm going back.
"Sol...
"d...
"Sol... di...
Sol...
"Soldier." Soldier.
Soldier.
Move! Towards the water!
Go!
Hold! Make another move,
and I'll shoot your head clean off.
I could say the same.
My arms are mighty tired,
and I aim to end this quick.
It's gonna be over quick you don't shut
your mouth, put them weapons down.
Ain't nobody got to die today.
Not over no hurt nigger.
Ain't that right?
Gonna be more trouble than it's worth,
trying to get a man who
can't walk to collect a reward.
Anybody can see his ankle broken.
So how's about we make
a sale right here?
I's give you five dollars for him.
Same as y'all would've got,
and five for your hassle.
We got three runaways,
you want to pay us for one?
You ain't got nothin' yet.
Ten dollars or two bullets,
it's your choice.
I ain't scared of no nigger bitches.
And ain't nobody scared of you.
My daddy taught me how
to carve up a tree real good.
I imagine your skin would be
a bit easier to handle.
Now, you heard me say my arms is tired.
So what's it gonna be?
every injury includes
a violation of a right.
This is as true today
as it was when Justice Wilson
said it 60 years ago.
Justice Wilson also stated
that property is a right...
and lawful power,
which a person has to a thing.
Objection. How does this
apply to a murder case?
The crime is not murder.
It is theft.
The accused is, himself,
stolen property, above all,
and must be extradited south.
- For the love of God, John, you're an abolitionist.
- My political beliefs
do not trump my vow to uphold the law.
And they certainly don't trump
my familial ties, Mr. Crane.
Mr. Hawkes, the accused
is a runaway who...
Your Honor, under
the Fugitive Slave Act,
the accused is still
the property of Suzanna Macon.
What he did in Ohio, while...
reprehensible...
is secondary to the property crime.
Therefore, Noah Macon
- must be returned to Georgia.
- Objection, Your Honor!
Overruled.
His argument is not without merit.
However, I'm well aware
of the stall tactics
that you're referencing, Mr. Crane.
Mr. Hawkes, I woke up to yet another
stack of papers...
would you care to summarize?
My client fears that while we wrestle
over semantics in this courtroom,
what is rightfully hers
is rotting away.
He's been in there the north
side of five months, Your Honor.
Who knows what kind of state he's in?
Chow time!
We do it tomorrow
or we can't do it at all.
The guards got guns.
That's why we're
gonna get our own weapons.
- Maybe we hold back a bit.
- We can't.
Two days' time, they gonna
roll us back to Tennessee.
Maybe massa won't punish.
Remember what happened to Renwick?
Of course I remember Renwick.
We ain't gonna end up like him.
It's my fault they caught us.
Sometimes we just get unlucky.
Bad luck's been going around.
Pastor Grant, the Grimké sisters.
Everybody's running into patrols
across the river.
They ain't follow us.
Moses paid 'em off.
- Really?
- Mm-hmm.
You'd be surprised
how many times it's worked.
They just want the money,
not the trouble.
Some of them want the trouble, too.
Remember that.
It's feeling mighty cold in here.
I'll get some more wood on the fire.
Harriet gonna
want to keep movin'.
- He can't travel.
- You might have to stay here, too.
We had a good day in court today.
I think the judge is seriously
considering my motion
to send him back south.
- When?
- Could be soon.
They've granted my request to...
inspect Suzanna's property.
But there's gonna be guards
with us the whole time.
I haven't seen him in so long.
I know.
What if this don't go our way?
Then I'll keep filing motions,
prolong the process,
keep stalling this trial
till we figure out
a way to get him back.
Got a lot of night left.
With a bit of rest.
Food in their bellies.
We ought to push on.
Well, Valentine's break is bad.
Infection might be settling in.
I figured as much. I told Miss Elizabeth
to wire ahead, let 'em know
the cargo gonna be light.
Mary can get him some medicine
from the hospital,
help him heal faster.
I suppose that means
you stayin' behind, too.
John say they may move Noah soon.
This plan of yours is dangerous.
Everything we do is dangerous.
There's a world of difference
between you stealing away
with somebody in the night
and stealing them
from an armed chain gang headed south.
The Lord sent you to me
to get your family back.
You ain't gonna be able to do
that you-you dead or in chains.
Noah is my family.
He gave up his freedom for Boo and me.
He ain't blood.
And hearts change.
I know John hurt you,
but this ain't like
when you went back for him.
Road you got ahead of you, 600 miles
Deep South.
Stealing yours from the hell
you barely escaped, then 600 miles
back through enemy territory.
You did it with your kin.
Maryland ain't Georgia. You got
to keep your head straight.
This rescue gonna be the
toughest thing you ever done.
And Noah gonna be able to help.
I'll get him back.
Together, we're gonna get
the rest of my family.
All up now!
All up now!
All up now!
All up now! All up now!
Hair and nails are a good
indication of health.
Teeth, as well.
No rot.
That's a good sign.
Turn around. Lift up your feet.
Higher.
- No sores.
- If the judgment falls
my client's way, she'd like him
on the first transport back to Georgia.
Well, there's something heading
that way tomorrow evening,
hauling back two
runaways from Tennessee.
Back around.
Take a look at his eyes.
- What am I supposed to be seeing?
- Not a speck of yellow.
No jaundice. He's in good shape.
Yeah, I'd like to keep it that way.
You're not taking him across
the Red Creek bridge, are you?
That thing looks like a devil's
grin. It's falling apart.
I just put 'em in
chains and on the wagon.
Want to know the route,
talk to the marshals.
I will. And it gets cold down by
the riverbank when the sun sets.
Could you scare him up a blanket?
All right, let's wrap up here.
My niece is down from Canada.
She's excited to reunite with
the rest of her family.
Papers?
Yes, sir.
What's your name?
Mary.
Excuse me, you with the broom?
That bed has just been vacated.
Attend to the dirty sheets, please.
Hold him down. Hold him down.
Hold him down. Nurse?
Take my keys.
And get the ether
from the supply closet.
Steady... steady.
Oh!
Sorry.
Hello.
Can I help you with something?
I'm Elizabeth Hawkes.
Uh, a-a friend of a friend sent me?
Frederick Douglass.
Lucretia Mott.
Uh,
Cassius... Marcellus Clay.
I always have trouble
pronouncing that last one, as well.
I've heard so much about
you and your husband
from Mr. Still's letters.
It's nice to finally put a face
with the name. I'm Georgia.
For a moment there, I thought
I was in the wrong place.
Mr. Still told me the code.
Uh, red cloth for a meeting,
the address is on the card...
And the number of eggs denotes
the time. You got it right.
When you didn't respond to the eggs...
Well, I've just never had anyone
bring them back before,
much less as a snack.
- Oh.
- It was thoughtful, and we could always
use the food around here.
Come on, I'll introduce you
to the other ladies.
Arthur believes the rednecks
have gotten word of the rally
and intend to make their presence known.
I welcome their attendance.
Perhaps they will learn something.
- Amen.
- Of course,
there'll be law enforcement
there to keep the peace.
We'll need 'em if
those boys from Lawrence
stampede into town in time.
Well, let us all pray they don't.
Ladies, meet Elizabeth. This is Anne,
Abigail, Sally,
and the one eating all
my award-winning jam is her
- sister Emily.
- It really is fantastic jam.
Hence the award.
So, did everyone bring their kits?
Oh, yes.
Not exactly what you expected?
I didn't know what to expect,
but I did think there
would be some sewing.
Oh, we do that, too.
Occasionally.
Welcome to the sewing circle.
Hey, chow time!
You got any idea what you just done?
That plan of yours
was gonna get you killed.
How the hell you know that?
That gate made of cast iron.
Keyhole on the other side.
By the time you pushed it over,
that guard on the other side of
the wall would've shot you down.
What guard?
You see that ash on that window?
He come by every day
right after the slop brought in.
He share one of them cigarettes
with some of the others.
Probably the guy that opens that gate.
Y'all notice he smell like smoke? Hmm?
Now, maybe if you made
your move at dinnertime,
you'd've got past the gate.
But you'd've ran right
into the marshal's office
across the street.
How you know
where the marshal office is?
You ever hear of the Macon 7?
All the same, why you
care we get ourselves kilt?
I don't.
But if you try and you fail,
you might compromise my escape.
Now, this time tomorrow, all three of us
gonna be put on a transport wagon.
We gonna be pulled
across the Ohio River,
past this rickety bridge,
looks like a devil's grin.
As soon as the sun sets,
the wagon gonna be stopped.
- Stopped by what?
- Spooked horse,
fallen tree. It don't matter.
We just need to be ready
when my friends arrive.
If you trust me, by this time tomorrow,
we gonna all be free men.
Line it up!
Master Roe wants that
western patch cleared.
How long you figure that's gonna take?
I say about three weeks.
Well, I want it in four days!
Got to trench and drench it
in time for the harvest.
A-A lot of trees
in that stretch there, sir.
Twice as much as we been doin',
and we a man down...
- What's that, boy?
- Sorry, sir.
You keep your mouth shut!
The humiliation suffered
by those in bondage is real.
It is raw.
No one is talking about it honestly.
We all just read
a narrative about a man
so badly beaten
he can no longer lift his arms.
Father Henson's Story.
Have you come across it, Elizabeth?
I-I can't say that I have.
Well, it's a harrowing read, but
a necessary tool for the cause.
How so?
Do you know what struck the final blow
against the British slave trade?
It was an article.
"Description of a Slave Ship."
The intolerable image
it conjured in the mind
is what turned the tide overseas.
Well, the best literature
has a way of forcing yourself
into a stranger's skin.
It demands empathy.
- Most-most people don't read.
- That's true.
- They don't.
- And to be honest, even those who do,
given the choice, might be reticent
to steep themselves
in the horrors of slavery.
You make a good point.
It may be time to move past
just the catalog of violence
that most narratives portray.
But the fact remains,
the silence around slavery
is an extension of its brutality.
And we aim to put the issue
into every Northern home
that refuses to see
what's really happening.
Well, the narratives raise awareness.
And the rallies. And the bake sales
to raise funds, and abolitionist
prints like The Liberator.
All forms of disruption.
I have to believe
that a true understanding
of what the Southern Negroes
are enduring
will incite good people to action.
All rise!
You may be seated.
Both the defense and the
prosecution have made some
compelling arguments.
While the murder charges
should be treated
with the utmost respect,
Mr. Hawkes is technically correct.
By federal law, the accused
should be taken back to Georgia.
However, this is my courtroom,
- and I can't abide it.
- Your Honor,
- the Fugitive Slave Act is very clear...
- The accused shot a U.S. marshal
on my side of the river,
after he and his Macon 7
ran up the Eastern Seaboard,
terrorizing law-abiding citizens.
I'd like to file a motion.
No, we're well past motions, Mr. Hawkes.
I will not allow you to waste
any more of this court's time.
As an agent of Ohio law...
Quiet, Mr. Hawkes,
or I will find you in contempt.
As an agent of Ohio law,
I am allowed to file a motion!
As the highest agent of Ohio law,
I am allowed to deny said motion.
This is a miscarriage,
and you know it, Your Honor!
Consider yourself in contempt. Bailiffs.
You cannot ignore federal law!
I just did.
This court has ruled.
The accused is guilty of all charges,
and he will hang for what he did.
You says, "Trust me."
You says you can make the law
work in our favor!
How was I supposed
to know that this judge
would just bypass
the entire legal system?
You open your eyes.
This happen all the time.
In the North, in the South,
it don't matter.
Rules don't apply to black folk.
We have to figure out
a way to save Noah.
Gettin' him sent back ain't work.
You were right.
Ain't no way to steal him
till he outside of them walls.
We'd have to get him at the gallows.
A hanging in the middle
of the city would draw a crowd.
We would need one hell
of a distraction.
Maybe Mary
can help us out there.
He is gonna be guarded until the moment
he is handed to the executioner
on that platform.
We'd have no chance to get him
until that noose was around his neck.
I know some of the workers
who built that gallows.
Maybe they can help.
And once we have him,
then we have to escape with him.
And there's only three of us.
Against every marshal
in that square.
There are
more than three of us.
We're part of a movement now.
We can do this.
If any part of this go wrong,
we all end up in jail.
Well, then we're all going to jail.
Yes, and my brother,
he kept on about Canada.
Sayin' there's this town over there.
All black folk.
- Hmm.
- Yeah, I thought
it was too good to be true.
So now I know.
I'm gonna get over there,
I'm gonna find it.
I heard Canada's a big place.
Ah, that's all right.
See, my brother, he a big man.
Well, I'm gonna get on a boat.
Cross that big wide ocean.
Oh, what's over there?
A place called France.
Gonna get me a look at that Mona Lisa.
You seen them giant murals massa
have brought in every year.
- Mm-hmm.
- He brag one 500 years old.
But over there, they 1,000 years old.
I want to see something that old.
How about you?
Where you going when you free?
It don't matter.
Ain't about a place no more.
Let us prosper and be fruitful
in the presence of all good spirits.
- Amen.
- Yes, yes.
Guide us to be faithful and true.
Give we wisdom
for whatever path we want.
Hey!
Your union strengthen all we.
The love we honor
make all we heart gladdy. For truth.
For truth, for truth...
Where you at?
Nowhere.
And this is the one that Tom gave you.
He told me to save it
for a special occasion.
Last time I talked to him.
Which...
felt like the last time.
Even though I didn't know it would be.
He was your brother.
It's okay to miss him.
I tried to draw a line
between family and politics.
But when he hung that man,
Rosalee's brother,
his daughter's brother...
You couldn't do it anymore.
And why should I?
Tom didn't.
The system was built with
the best of intentions,
but those in power have
found ways to corrupt it.
Rosalee's right.
I cannot keep my eyes closed anymore.
John.
Seeing a problem isn't enough.
The system isn't going anywhere.
We have to figure out a way
to disrupt it.
I think that I have.
There is an open seat
on the Court of Commons.
We go down to the courthouse
and we put my name on the ballot.
And then I can start making
rulings that'll help the cause.
What do you think?
I think it's brilliant.
The goddamn ferryman
dumped the crates in the marsh
east of the indigo plantation.
You got to go fish 'em out.
Make sure they ain't
takin' too much of that.
Once I trade 'em, I ain't got no control
over what they do with 'em.
Figure it out.
I want 'em docile, not dead.
You see, this here arrangement, boy,
don't make us friends.
You think about that
next time you feel like talking
out of turn in my fields.
Old buckra.
Sick of rice.
You don't got to eat it.
So this your life now?
Today
the men that stand before you
are guilty of the unspeakable.
They are proven to be a danger
to peace in the state of Ohio,
and society at large.
Only they can know their truth.
Only they can pay for their crimes.
It is our duty
to meet their crimes with retribution.
Citizens will rest at peace tonight
knowing that these murderers
have faced true justice and punishment
for their actions.
Noah Macon,
you have been found guilty as charged
of the crime of murder,
of which the penalty
is death by hanging.
Do you have any last words?
Saul Freeman...
...as stipulated by
the laws of the state of Ohio.
Which speaks as clearly today
as it did in the days of old.
...deserves decisive answers.
Noah, get in, get in!
- Noah! Come on!
- Let's go, come on!
Hyah!
They're coming!
How'd they get on us so fast?
They don't look like marshals.
Hyah! Hyah!
Noah!
Death been
followin' you all around.
And you thought you could beat it.
Sacrificed your dignity,
me,
even your children
at the altar of your privilege.
But that the white in you.
The black ain't never
gonna stop huntin' you.
Tried to forget,
and look what forgettin' got you.
Little girl ran away.
Little boy don't belong to you no more.
And Sam...
well...
he swung from the porch of that
big house you thought you owned.
You sad, pretty, little thing.
I bet you told yourself
you was being tough.
All them pieces you cut out to keep on.
But just 'cause you survived,
don't make you strong.
If you was, you'd just do it.
It's what you want, ain't it?
Ever since you hung massa.
When you gave up.
Just do it.
'Cause this,
you sittin' around waitin'
for him to do it for you,
to beat you to death...
this pitiful!
Just kill yourself.
John?
John!
Where's Noah?
Where's Noah?!
They took him.
The marshals?
Those men were not marshals.
John Hawkes!