'Dear White People' season 3 to focus on characters beyond their activism as they figure out where they are headed
Remember the frustration we were left with after season 2 of 'Dear White People' culminated? That whole hanging in the middle feeling is finally going to be put to rest with some closure in the upcoming season 3, amidst characters finding out who they are in a much wider society while more about The Order of the X unfolds.
The last time we saw Logan Browning's Samantha 'Sam' White, she was mourning the loss of her father. But while Sam was juggling a trip back to her roots, processing her grief while trying to come to terms with her present, we also saw the authority of the secret Order of the X and a major revelation about one of its members. We found out who the mysterious narrator is (Giancarlo Esposito) and the show meandered through issues of social media trolling and the alt-right rising. However, when it comes to season 3, it will be a lot more about the characters than the personas they have exhibited while advocating for their activism.
Series-creator Justin Simien, who helmed the original movie of the same name that inspired the Netflix show has shared with the Television Critics Association how more than the activism that the characters feel so passionately about, this season will focus on their personalities. Think deeper backstories explored with their personalities re-evaluated - something that avid fans believe has been long overdue.
“This year, some would call it an overcorrection but I think it’s probably a necessary reckoning of re-evaluating people,” Simien told the TCA. “We find some of our heroes to be more problematic than we had hoped and what do we do with that? In a community where we really need our heroes, that was an over-arching theme this year.” There will also be personal challenges that the characters will affront, something that has been only hinted at here and there throughout the previous seasons.
"Season three challenges a lot of the things we've established, and it does so because the characters are having to come up against their own ideas about themselves and it all feels very natural," Simien had shared with a Banff World Media Festival master class on Dear White People. And specifically on the Sam aspect, the show is going to focus a lot on where the college radio host is headed beyond her activism. She won't be the only one, as the creators have also hinted at other, even fresher characters, getting the opportunity to explore their lives as individuals. "In season three, Justin takes this mold and breaks it a little bit, and that's refreshing," Browning has shared and it is all quite contemplative indeed, but the show is expected to retain its charm from the initial stages, that made it such a steady hit.
'Dear White People' season 3 premieres on August 2, only on Netflix.