‘Wu-Tang: An American Saga’ Season 2 Episode 3 Review: Inner turmoil opens a new road
‘Hollow Bones’ is the third episode of ‘Wu-Tang: An American Saga’ season 2. The story of one of the most iconic hip-hop groups continued on the episode that chronicles their journey to fame. The episode opens with Bobby Diggs getting into a little argument with the hood boys as he refuses to hand over his collection of records to them.
‘Wu-Tang: An American Saga’ is a Hulu original created by RZA and Alex Tse. The series has been executively produced by the duo alongside Brian Grazer, Merrin Dungey, and Method Man. Wu-Tang Members namely Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, Masta Killa, and GZA serve as the consulting producers on the fictional drama series. The show dropped the first three episodes on September 8 and the next three will be up for streaming on Hulu on September 15.
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Plot
While Bobby Diggs remains the focal point of the show, we are glad the third episode also put the struggles of the other characters into the spotlight. We see Divine (Julian Elijah Martinez) working in the field of construction while his heart wants to pursue music. He comes back home exhausted and finds Bobby Diggs lying at his place asleep. Showing his love for the music, the scene captures an emotional moment as Divine reaches out to Diggs’ Walkman. Diggs tries to convince him to join him even as he says he "ain’t a rapper or a producer". Divine, the next day, gets to work where he learns that his job won't take care of the insurance, which troubles him.
What we liked about the first half was that the show sheds light on Divine as he maneuvers through confusion, passion, family, and his responsibilities, and above all his love for hip-hop music. He is shown as someone vulnerable, something which all the characters lacked till now, in the earlier episodes. Divine eventually finds out his workplace is getting shut down, which puts him in a spot. He ultimately goes back to Diggs to discuss the possibilities of stepping into the hip-hop world.
Another character called Sha played by Shameik Moore is also seen in the episode hitting the studio where he interacts with a producer. The third episode, in a nutshell, goes back and forth on Diggs trying to kick-start his music career and Divine trying to figure out what is right or wrong for him.
Script
The third episode might have shown the group's journey but, like always, this isn't backed by highlighting the characters' emotions or their vulnerability to the events that overtake them. The only saving grace is the depiction of Divine’s inner turmoil. While we praised the makers for spicing things up in the second half of the show in earlier episodes, it, unfortunately, did not happen in the latest one. We also missed the peppy background score as the long scenes dragged a bit.
However, we loved the interaction Diggs and Ason (TJ Atoms) have on the street as both are seen with their luggage on the street to set up the new place — metaphorically showing their hustle. The last few minutes finally give us some hope as they both jam together after setting up their instruments at the new place. Diggs raises the excitement for upcoming episodes by saying, “I got a different plan for us”.
Acting
Divine (Julian Elijah Martinez) was undoubtedly the star of the third episode ‘Hollow Bones’ as a major chunk of the first half was dedicated to the emotional journey of the character. Diggs (Ashton Sanders), the mastermind, always maintains his calm, stays composed, and convinces other members to pursue their passion. Also, it is Ason (TJ Atoms) for us who always nails his performance. In the third episode, Ason hardly appears for five minutes but his screen presence certainly blows the roof off.