The fifth episode of Noughts + Crosses sees the McGregors have a further downturn in fortunes and Callum going down a troubling path.

Ryan McGregor has died in prison and his family finds out through the media. Callum (Jack Rowan) does not believe the official story that his father committed suicide and he starts to believe militancy is the only course of action.

Kamal Hadley (Paterson Joseph) has fulfilled his lifelong ambition to become the Prime Minister of Albion. His first action is to stop all of his predecessor’s integration initiatives and bring about more segregation. Yet scandal lays close to home which could ruin his Premiership before it starts.



For a show that is about racial discrimination and forbidden love, the fifth episode is an even darker story. Throughout the series the McGregors have suffered: they have lost their jobs, and Ryan takes the fall for the hospital bombing. Even after Ryan’s death there no peace because the family doesn’t get to see his body, can’t have a funeral, and have to pay for the disposal of his body when they were already in dire straits.

The McGregor house is a powder keg of tension. Jude (Josh Dylan) was hostile to Callum for his relationship with Sephy (Masali Baduza) and Meggie (Helen Baxendale) blames Jude for what happened to the family patriarch. It was a tense domestic situation.

Callum has had a huge journey in the series. He started as a young man who wanted to be an inspiration and be a symbol of change. But his suffers at the hands of institutional racism and what happened to his father was the final straw. Dorn (Shaun Dingwell) corrupts Callum further and leads him to take violent action. Callum goes down the opposite road to his father: Callum was a moderate turned extremist, whilst Ryan was an extremist who’s views soften over time.



Callum’s story shows that Albion is regressing. The former Prime Minister was trying to slowly change the system, but her policies were considered too extreme. It mirrors recent politics where centrism has been overtaken by the extremes on the left and the right. A rollback on Civil Rights in our world isn’t unprecedented: it happened in Reconstruction-era America and the National Party in South Africa formalised Apartheid and Albion is going through the same experience.

Like in other segregated societies there is hypocrisy in Albion’s leadership. Even though Kamal is shown to be a hypocrite because he has an illegitimate mixed-raced son and it would be a huge scandal if it’s found out. Kamal isn’t much different to Thomas Jefferson who fathered children with his slaves, or Joseph Goebbels who had an affair with an actress from a Slav background.

As well there being tensions within the McGregor household, the Hadleys also have issues. Before the reveal about Kamal’s son, there was a small rift between Sephy and her sister Minerva (Kiké Brimah). It only grows when they find out about their half-brothers due to Minerva defending Kamal when Jasmine (Bonnie Mbuli) and Sephy see Kamal for what he really is.



One of the things I liked about the series is the world-building and the details. Kamal’s inauguration gets interrupted by a group of Noughts and they evoked slavery imagery which was little touch. The creators of this world wanted to ensure there was a certain sense of familiarity. Previous episodes have shown the government of Albion operates similarly to the real Britain government and in this episode, Kamal states the President of Africa asked him to form a government. So the President of Africa has a similar role to the Queen.

Whilst the show has been strong, one issue I have is how Sephy travels to Meadow Hill. Sephy is at least 17 and the daughter of the Prime Minister yet she goes off to this world’s version of Soweto. She doesn’t even have any protector or bodyguards.

The penultimate episode of Noughts + Crosses works as a darker personal story and it keeps the heavy themes that make the show so interesting.











Direction

Writing

Acting 4.2

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