Set amid violence, drama reinforces fight for survival
A cycle of violence serves as the literal foundation for the new TV drama series “The Chi,” set in a particular neighborhood of Chicago’s South Side.
One act of random mayhem begets another, setting off a chain reaction through the area, taking lives and hope without regard to innocence or guilt.
The series, set to premiere Sunday on Showtime, portrays a community of people struggling for survival in different ways.
South Sider Brandon (Jason Mitchell), who one day hopes to open a restaurant, lives with his girlfriend, Jerrika (Tiffany Boone), a real-estate broker. They work hard to make better lives for themselves.
Emmett (Jacob Latimore) is younger and not even thinking of the responsibilities of adulthood when he learns that he has fathered a child and must figure out how to take care of his son.
Between childhood and adulthood is Coogie (Jahking Guillory), the good-natured younger brother of Brandon. He’s smart, charming and ambitious, and he tools around the neighborhood with his oversized Afro fanning out behind him, the soundtrack of a carefree life pumping through ever-present earbuds.
Others in “The Chi” either have more-limited options or choose drugs, violence and other less-savory paths to survival.
Conflict becomes inevitable, and the collateral damage is swift and often unpredictable.
While older South Siders battle it out for survival, a fresh generation of kids is portrayed as destined to follow the pattern in the community.
On the cusp of adolescence is Kevin (Alex Hibbert), but, like his young pals Jake (Michael Epps) and selfstyled “Renaissance man” Papa (Shamon Brown), he already has the language and attitude of the streets down pat.
From the outset, there are no firm lines of demarcation among the various elements of the neighborhood. Everyone is always vulnerable — violence and even death are constant threats to both those trying to survive in legitimate ways and those working the criminal angles.
The death of a young basketball player sets off the chain of inevitability that sparks the drama and conflict. Another young man is seen standing over the body. The basketball player’s stepdad, Ronnie (Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine), jumps to the wrong conclusion. One innocent life is lost; others follow.
“The Chi” works because of authenticity in many areas, including performance, direction and sense of place. It misses reaching its potential, though, because the script doesn’t always make the chain of violence credible.
Creator Lena Waithe aims at depicting the Chi as a separate world, in a way. That part we believe in the four episodes sent to critics.
What we don’t necesarily believe are the actions and reactions by some of the characters, which often seem engineered for maximum thematic effect.
Still, the series packs power and emotional depth.
The priority in “The Chi” is survival. After that, the young men in the series can decide right and wrong.