‘61st Street’ Recap: ‘Pilot’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the series premiere of ‘61st Street’.

We are taught to believe… that the American justice system is the finest in all the land. A lesson that is reinforced in school, courtesy of coursework that break the whole system down. Since we come to learn that due process is vital to the system and that various amendments in the Constitution of the United of States of America, guarantee certain rights to those accused of a crime. Such as a trial by jury and representation and that all cases will operate under the assumption that the accused is indeed innocent until proven guilty. But as we grow and get out into the world, we quickly come to learn that this polished system… is actually quite scuffed and flawed in reality.
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Because despite designing quite the incredible system on paper, it appears that no one ever took into account the human element in the matter. Since some people involved with the system, carry with them a bias that they apply to everything in life, and some of these folks are racist against the color of another’s person skin or they’re prejudiced to their sexual orientation or gender identity, and we don’t really see that… until the news shows it to us. Which changes our perspective about the justice system and leaves us wondering… what went wrong in that instance and how on earth we let it get to that point and how we right the ship so to speak. But alas, that curiosity and desire to fix the system seems fleeting at times since society finds something new to focus upon shortly after these problems are revealed.

Which really does beg an important question, in that… what will it take to begin to create fundamental change to a system we know is flawed? Well, it just so happens that a new series on AMC is going to attempt to answer that question and 61st Street postulates the possibility that perhaps we need to be immersed in the injustices of the system firsthand. Which is why the show’s ‘Pilot’ episode plunges us into the streets of Chicago and the corrupt system it boats, by way of two key characters. The first of which is a lawyer named Franklin Roberts, who has seen better days regarding his career. For the losses are continuing to mount and he consistently sees the system go out of its way to punish African Americans for minor criminal transgressions, leaving him to wonder if he’s ever accomplished anything as a lawyer and if by chance… the time has come to step aside. 

A storyline that really does dig deep into the difficulties of watching the system punish African Americans for no reason other than the color of their skin and stereotypes, and Franklin’s journey is the perfect way to ease us into this part of our world and the real horrors it harbors. Which is explored by way of a storyline involving a gifted athlete named Moses Johnson. Whom finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time one day, and is chased by police throughout town in a manner so brutal and so harrowing that something goes terribly wrong and an officer is killed while Moses is trying to fight for his freedom. A move that leads to a terrifying manhunt for Moses, one where corrupt and racist cops stop at nothing, even going so far as to torture his brother and plant evidence in his home… to bring him to ‘justice’.

Which are storytelling elements… that make for one powerful and gripping tale. One that truly puts a corrupt system on display in a no-holds barred manner and demands that we see all of its flaws and all of its problems. So that we finally understand how bad it can be out there and so that perhaps… we demand change and demand that justice be served as it was intended, without fear and through due process and this pilot alone makes this a poignant and powerful series. One that will be studied for ages on end and what’s incredible… is that we aren’t even remotely done with this journey. For Moses is still ‘at large’ and Franklin is watching this whole mess closely and it will be fascinating to see what other impactful lessons await us as we continue our journey through a raw and honest look at a system… that desperately needs an overhaul. Until next time.

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