'The Good Lord Bird' Episode 5: Mr Cook is the frenemy from hell, while Mrs Huffmaster is the 'Karen' of 1859
In Episode 5 of 'The Good Lord Bird', we get to see in excruciating detail why John Brown's Harper Ferry raid was doomed even before it began. In one of the most significant statements of the episode, we see John Brown tell Onion that everything depends on "hiving the bees", which is also the episode's title. The phrase refers to the enslaved swarming in to take over once Brown and his men take control of the armory, and get hold of the guns. The success of the plan depends on every able-bodied enslaved Black man they can get to take up arms and fight for freedom.
The only problem? Unlike the Black folk up in the more urban areas of Baltimore or Washington, all the slaves in the near vicinity want nothing to do with the radical abolitionist John Brown, because they are too scared for their lives.
So the "bees" John Brown is hoping to attract can only come from three possible sources. One, through the Rail Man's contacts, who can ferry Blacks into town on the day of the attack. Two, Harriet Tubman "the General", who had told John Brown "not to change the date" of the raid so that she can plan how to aid in the attack. And three, Frederick Douglass, whose words and presence are the honey that will draw Black men to the cause and get them buzzing.
Frederick Douglass is the first to bow out, calling John Brown's target a "steel trap" that will ensnare him and anyone dumb enough to follow him. His right-hand man is so disgusted by Douglass' 'all talk-no action' stance that he goes with John Brown to add to his pitiful 16-man army.
The rest of the plan is doomed by the idiot Mr. Cook, who can't keep his lips or pants zipped. He beds available women in town, making him and Onion (his slave 'girl'), the subject of gossip and scrutiny. This makes them lose all credibility. Onion can't rein Cook in and when he goes into town to "gather the coloreds" they immeditedly seem to recognize that he is a boy in a girl's dress and are suspicious of Brown sending a "sissy" to do his work. Cook also makes matters worse by openly blabbing about how the great abolitionist John Brown was going to "stir up trouble in them parts" each time he is drunk at the tavern.
Of course, at the end of the day, it is John Brown's fault to pick a man like Cook for the advance party. Cook, the Canadian soldier for adventure, is based on a real life character and he was as loose-lipped as the series describes. Brown thought Cook was the extrovert they needed to 'mingle' with the town's crowd and provide them with advance intel. But he turned out to be the unintentional frenemy, whose extroversion attracted trouble instead of information.
The nosy neighbors around the house where Brown and his men stayed is personified in Mrs Huffmaster, who huffs and puffs at their door trying to find out what is going on behind it. Onion and later Annie Brown (John Brown's daughter) try to allay her suspicions but fail miserably.
Whether it's a Karen in 2020, or a Karen in the 1800s, there is no getting away from her outrage, suspicion or complaining. She puts the house under single-minded scrutiny, turning up to complain about Cook or Onion at least twice a day. By the end of it, she tells them that the sheriff is coming to inspect the place himself and find the abolitionist John Brown because the stories she has heard from Onion and Annie are not adding up to what Cook has been blabbing about at the tavern.
Mrs Huffmaster is the annoying Neighborhood Watch all by her own and it is largely due to her intervention that Brown has to move up the date of the attack. This means the Rail Man has even less time to collect men and Harriet Tubman has the wrong (and later) date. Worse, Onion's infatuation with Annie makes him forget that he has to tell Brown the password -- "Jesus is walking" -- that will convince the Rail Man that it is safe for the slaves to disembark from the train.
It is only when the "women" (including Onion) have already travelled some distance from the town to safer parts that Onion remembers. So he declares his love for Annie (after revealing he is a man in a Superman-esque, shirt-ripping scene), kisses her and then sprints, to get back to Brown. But will he get to him in time?
'The Good Lord Bird' airs on Sundays on Showtime at 9 pm ET/PT.