Kennedy’s assassination, meanwhile, ripples throughout the community. Naturally, this isn’t enough to set Bumpy’s mind at ease, so he has Mayme (Ilfenesh Hadera) and Margaret (Demi Singleton) taken away somewhere safe. Indeed, Godfather of Harlem Episode 10 opens with Bumpy being summoned before the Family leadership to answer for Zambrano’s murder, which he admits, but not without the promise of “mutually assured destruction” – a topical term, here referring to damning evidence that’ll find its way into the public domain should Bumpy, his family, or his men be touched. Kennedy’s assassination by Lee Harvey Oswald and the social and political fallout that ensued, but also the on-going war between Bumpy and the Italian Mafia, complicated more than ever now that Chin (Vincent D’Onofrio) has managed to convince Costello (Paul Sorvino) and Bonanno (Chazz Palminteri) that Bumpy was responsible for the deaths of both Lorenzo and “Made Man” Richie Zambrano (Louis Cancelmi). Johnson tells the doomed lovers of Teddy and Olympia that they shouldn’t seek to emulate “Romeo and Juliet.” One wonders if he couldn’t learn a similar lesson from “ Richard III.As the episode’s title “Chickens Come Home to Roost” suggests, the finale is set against the backdrop of President John F. Sure, we may have heard this story before but never with this particular group of talented performers. Even small roles are well-cast and written (although a subplot involving Johnson’s addict daughter sinks into melodrama early and often). Whitaker is the gravitas at the center, but D’Onofrio hasn’t been this good in years, Fry is an engaging young actress, it’s always great to see Guzman and Esposito, and so on. On that level, it’s a consistently entertaining actor’s showcase. “Godfather of Harlem” is better appreciated as an acting piece than any sort of grand commentary or complex character study. There are so many characters and threads that any search for thematic focus seems fruitless. So what does this retelling of an oft-told story illuminate about this chapter in history? Not quite enough at time, to be honest. (Johnson was played by Laurence Fishburne in “ Hoodlum” and Clarence Williams III in “ American Gangster”). Harlem in the ‘60s is clearly very fertile ground for drama, and not only because of larger than life personalities like Johnson and Gigante, who have been portrayed on camera many times before. Ridley and company also introduce soldiers on both sides, a musician named Teddy Greene (Harrison) who is dating Gigante’s daughter Olivia ( Lucy Fry), and local political and religious leaders, including one played by the great Esposito and another who just so happens to be Malcolm X (Nigel Thatch). Johnson demands his territory is returned to him, much to the dismay of Vincent “Chin” Gigante (D’Onofrio), who refuses to simply give up control that he feels he’s earned. Drugs have taken over the community, and the Italian mafia runs most of them and basically all of New York. John Ridley, the writer of “ 12 Years a Slave” and “American Crime,” directs the pilot, which opens with Bumpy Johnson (Whitaker) being released from Alcatraz and returning to a Harlem that has changed significantly while he’s been away.
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