Civil War drama ‘Mercy Street’ rises again on PBS
When the Civil War started, the Union Army expected to make short work of Confederate opposition once the North could seize the Southern capital of Richmond, Va.
The tide seems to be shifting, however, during the summer of 1862, as the PBS historical drama “Mercy Street” opens season two tonight at 8 on WGBH.
“When we start season two, there is a lot of reason for encouragement on the South’s side of the war, because they’ve preserved their capital and turned the Northern army away,” said David Zabel, one of the show’s executive producers. “The Union mindset had been that the war would be short, but I think there is still some confidence on the part of the North that the South won’t be able to sustain things.”
Fans of season one will find familiar faces — Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Josh Radnor and Gary Cole among them — returning in their familiar roles, but these six new episodes also introduce new characters, none more compelling than Patina Miller (“Madam Secretary”) as Charlotte Jenkins, a former slave turned abolitionist and activist, who returns South to help newly freed black slaves learn the skills they need to adjust to their new lives.
This character — a composite of such real-life figures as Harriet Tubman and the lesser-known Harriet Jacobs — proved an irresistible challenge to the actress, who had been longing to do a period project, especially one that had to do with the black American experience.
“This was something we weren’t taught in school, about this time in history right after these people were released from slavery,” said Miller, who grew up in South Carolina. “What happened to these slaves? Where did they go? I found out that a lot of them died, because they were displaced. They fled to the North, but couldn’t find anyone to help them in many cases. These human beings were spoils of war.
“What Harriet Jacobs, the main inspiration for my character, went through and suffered in slavery before escaping, then going back down to where she had been held, 10 years later, to help others learn how to be free ... it was just so powerful,” she added. “Charlotte is determined to teach these ‘contraband’ people how to be free, to be in charge of their own lives and have a sense of self. Someone taught her to do it, so she made it her mission to come to this place that is filled with many painful memories to help others. It’s just so brave. She isn’t thinking of herself at all.”
Zabel says the contraband plot line is a perfect example of the kind of story the “Mercy Street” creative team looks for as they continue their chronicle of life in Civil War America.
“It’s a great but lesserknown story that comes out of history, and a great female empowerment story, a black empowerment story, and another way of showing a different facet of African-American life at this time,” he said. “It was always very important to us not to reduce the experience of this war to some monolithic portrayal, regardless of whether we are talking about men, women, North, South, black or white. You can look at Patina’s character or McKinley’s (Belcher III) character (a free black man with covert medical skills) ... and each has a distinctive point of view regarding what they are going through.”