Black Cake

This is a series that I have waited to see. The book was exceptional comprised of a story that was engaging and kept you wanting more. The series fleshes out the characters, extremely well, and unbelievably, rivals the book. Mia Isaac is beautiful, very talented, and she adds a layer to the teleplay that is exceptional. I especially enjoyed the costuming, because it was very much within the period that the story is set in. The way that Eleanor's hair is styled is truly a throwback from the era that I haven't seen accomplished this well in many other movies, and the settings, London and Scotland, are a beautiful canvas for a very beautiful story. There have been many books written by and about people of color in the last few years, and I have read many of them, but this is the first one that I found that was truly a good book and movie, that has not been hyped simply because it was written by a person of color. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys the telling of a good story.

I must add this addendum to my review for the simple reason that the ending of Black Cake was extremely disappointing. I don't like to make up an ending that should have been, and although I had given this series a ten, I changed it to a seven strictly based on the fact that the ending was very unfulfilling.

From the start, I quite liked Black Cake, particularly the first few episodes. The plot is intriguing, it's very well cast, and the significant amount of tension makes it work. The sets, costumes, and cinematography are quite fitting. The ocean scenes in the Caribbean have a lush feel, serving as an effective contrast to the troubled relationships.

But something happened around episode 3. It's when I felt that this series should have been produced in a more compressed form. Rather than 8 episodes, how about 6? I've just finished the 5th episode, and I'm further convinced. The core story seems to be diluted by tangents and extra relationships. There are moments of unintended humor in this episode, because it's veering into soap opera territory. I feel a bit let down. I've not read the novel it's based on, but I would presume the script follows it faithfully. I plan to continue watching the show, but it seems like the producers have somehow missed the mark.

Was very disappointed when learned there wouldn't be a season 2. This was such a great series and had great reviews. We were anticipating a second season and now feel cheated. It really seems shows with black characters and storyline of substance seem to get canceled especially by Hulu. I loved the characters and each character's storyline. I really thought about canceling my Hulu subscription because again they seem to cancel black driven character shows off substance and I'm not happy about how they handle black content. I how another network will pick up and continue this series to give fans what they are asking and that's good tv.

I didn't know anything about this show except a vague recollection that Oprah had "something to do with it" but didn't know to what degree until I researched a bit on IMDB. I binged all 8 episodes over a long weekend and thoroughly enjoyed the storyline, the cast, characters, and cinematography. I was sorry when the final episode ended. I did not have any trouble following the storylines or empathizing with any of the characters. I very much enjoyed watching so many extremely talented actors bring their complicated characters to life. I will look forward to a potential Season 2. Very well done!

I would've rated it higher. I thought for the most part this series did a fairly well job portraying the book until the ending. Of course there were other things I would've like to have seen- mainly bunny and covey's reunion. But then the way they ended it with like a cliff hanger as if there were more to the storyline. The book ending was better and the ending of the show was getting there and then they had to add this little mystery to Mabel's storyline. Like are you continuing the series-are you pulling some weird crappy series like big little lies when this would've been a perfect one and done season series? In until the last 3 minutes, it was a beautiful series.