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  • BBC Two
  • Sep 10, 2018
  • BBC Two
  • Sep 10, 2018

Summary When barrister Eve Ashby (Harriet Walter) takes on a case against General Simon Nyamoya (Danny Sapani), a Rwandan militia leader at the International Criminal Court, it opens up secrets from her past including those of her adopted daughter Kate Ashby (Michaela Coel) and fellow barrister Michael Ennis (John Goodman) in this thriller from ...

  • BBC Two
  • Sep 10, 2018
  • BBC Two
  • Sep 10, 2018
Black Earth Rising
Season 1
Season Premiere: Sep 10, 2018
Metascore Mixed or Average Based on 9 Critic Reviews
59
User Score Generally Favorable Based on 13 User Ratings
6.5
My Score
Hover and click to give a rating Saved

Summary When barrister Eve Ashby (Harriet Walter) takes on a case against General Simon Nyamoya (Danny Sapani), a Rwandan militia leader at the International Criminal Court, it opens up secrets from her past including those of her adopted daughter Kate Ashby (Michaela Coel) and fellow barrister Michael Ennis (John Goodman) in this thriller from ...

Season Episodes

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Episode 1 • Sep 10, 2018 • 59 m
In Other News
Kate Ashby returns to work as a legal investigator in the same chambers as her adopted mother Eve. Their relationship is tested when a militia leader is prosecuted at the International Criminal Court.
Episode 2 • Sep 17, 2018 • 59 m
Looking at the Past
Eve opens the prosecution of Simon Nyamoya, but a shocking incident changes everything. Michael launches a new case, defending old friend Alice Munezero, and turns to Kate for help.
Episode 3 • Sep 24, 2018 • 58 m
A Ghost in Name
Kate works with Michael to defend Alice Munezero from the charges against her in France. However, as shadowy forces try to prevent the truth being unearthed Kate faces threats to her personal safety.
Episode 4 • Oct 1, 2018 • 58 m
A Bowl of Cornflakes
Kate and Michael finish their work on Alice's case in France but are shocked when an indicted Rwandan and Congolese war criminal, Patrice Ganimana, implicated in the Genocide, arrives in the UK.
Episode 5 • Oct 8, 2018 • 58 m
The Eyes of the Devil
Blake Gaines, who has been handling Ganimana's defence, seems in danger of falling foul of those paying his legal fees. Alice Munezero tells Michael, for the first time, of her connection to the Rwandan president - Bibi Mundanzi.
Episode 6 • Oct 15, 2018 • 58 m
The Game's True Nature
Episode 7 • Oct 22, 2018 • 59 m
Double Bogey on the Ninth
Episode 8 • Oct 29, 2018 • 59 m
The Forgiving Earth

Top Cast

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View All Cast & Crew

Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Mixed or Average Based on 9 Critic Reviews
59
44% Positive
4 Reviews
44% Mixed
4 Reviews
11% Negative
1 Review

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews

Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Mixed or Average Based on 9 Critic Reviews
59
44% Positive
4 Reviews
44% Mixed
4 Reviews
11% Negative
1 Review

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
80
Jan 25, 2019
If you’re hoping to be simultaneously challenged and made deeply anxious, look no further. And if the quest for rightness in a world that too often makes rightness impossible compels you, Black Earth Rising is well worth your time. Just give yourself something to grab, or touch, or press while you watch it. The steadiness will help.
By Allison Shoemaker FULL REVIEW
80
Jan 24, 2019
Like David Simon, Blick is the kind of storyteller who's drawn to a form of bleak realism because that's where the tough stories that need to be told reside. In that sense, his work requires something of a commitment from viewers, but Black Earth Rising and Blick's previous work illustrate that it's one worth making.
By Tim Goodman FULL REVIEW
63
Jan 23, 2019
The truth of Kate’s childhood isn’t as shocking as Black Earth Rising’s writers seem to believe it is. The series effectively defines both the real villains of its story and who Kate is, so much so that what she is, by the end, feels poignantly immaterial.
By Michael Haigis FULL REVIEW
52
Jan 24, 2019
Black Earth Rising is overly confident in all the wrong places and lacks trust in all the right ones. The legal thriller’s frustrating bundle of potential never quite makes its case, despite the courage of its convictions.
By Jacob Oller FULL REVIEW
50
Jan 25, 2019
Black Earth Rising’s focus on moving outward, on widening the scope of the investigations and recriminations to put the whole system on trial, is admirable, but in so doing, the series loses sight of its lead character. The story starts and ends with Kate, but after eight hours, we still have little sense of how she’s coping with survivor’s guilt, mental illness, navigating two cultures, or any of the fallout from challenging rich white men who live on estates with driveways the size of football fields.
By Danette Chavez FULL REVIEW
50
Jan 24, 2019
Suspenseful but uneven drama. ... While the eight-part series deftly unpacks difficult questions about neocolonialism and the effect of geopolitics on the pursuit of justice, it’s less successful in forging a strong bond between viewers and the characters on screen.
By Lorraine Ali FULL REVIEW
30
Jan 22, 2019
[Black Earth Rising] squanders the audience’s goodwill with ill-conceived narrative turns, a reliance on cliché, and, worst, dialogue that defies belief. Its potential resonances as a story about how we metabolize, and prosecute, the worst of crimes ends up, soon enough, squandered as the audience loses faith in the story and its telling. ... Which raises questions about why Black Earth Rising exists at all, so inept is it at conveying the struggle at its center.
By Daniel D'Addario FULL REVIEW

User Reviews

 View All
User Score
Generally Favorable Based on 13 User Ratings
6.5
54% Positive
7 Ratings
31% Mixed
4 Ratings
15% Negative
2 Ratings

User Reviews

 View All
User Score
Generally Favorable Based on 13 User Ratings
6.5
54% Positive
7 Ratings
31% Mixed
4 Ratings
15% Negative
2 Ratings

There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.

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