Review: Queen Sugar, season 3

Rutina Wesley, Dawn-Lyen Gardner, and Kofi Siriboe in Queen Sugar

It feels like it takes years and years for each season of Queen Sugar to reach Hulu, where I anxiously wait to watch it. Season 3 finally made it there. And, of course, I watched it. You can see all 3 seasons on Hulu.

Queen Sugar continues to be a well written, well acted, beautifully touching story about the extended Bordelon family and their history on the land.

Rutina Wesley in Queen Sugar
Nova is writing a book!

An excellent cast begins with the siblings: Rutina Wesley as Nova Bordelon, Dawn-Lyen Gardner as Charley Bordelon, and Kofi Siriboe as Ralph Angel Bordelon.

Moving in orbit around them are Tina Lifford and Omar J. Dorsey as Aunt Vi and her fiance Hollywood. Nicholas L. Ashe plays Micah, Charley’s son. Ralph Angel’s son Blue is played by Ethan Hutchison. Other important roles in the story belong to by Dondre Whitfield, Bianca Lawson, Timon Kyle Durrett, Henry G. Sanders, Vivien Ngo, Walter Perez, and Tanyell Waivers.

Everything about this big cast is impeccable. Perfect choices for both the characters we love through all their mistakes and the villains who threaten them on every side.

Dawn-Lyen Gardner in Queen Sugar
Charley gets herself into and out of impossible business deals

With 13 episodes in the season, many powerful themes and topics work into the story. There are episodes around independence, freedom, equality, romance, racism, sexism, police brutality, protest, oil spills, parenting, and corruption. Under that is always the love of family, the love of the land, and the proud history of the Black farmers of Louisiana who care for that land.

Every episode is full of topical subject matter, deep human emotional truth, and just plain, old-fashioned good storytelling. In season 3, Aunt Vi and her pie making business grows into a multi-episode storyline. Another overarching story involves the evil Landry clan kicking farmers off their leased land with a phony excuse. Later we learn it’s because they intend to build a private, for profit prison there. The Bordelons work, each in their own way, to prevent this.

Kofi Siriboe in Queen Sugar
Ralph Angel has to fight for custody of Blue.

This series is brilliantly told and beautiful to watch. If you’ve never tried Queen Sugar, I urge to you to take a look. A consistent magic of all three seasons means every episode is directed by a woman. In season 3, the directors are Nijla Mu’min, Christina Choe, Ayoka Chenzira, Rachel Raimist, Kat Candler, DeMane Davis, Patricia Cardoso, Shaz Bennett, Maria Govan, and Lauren Wolkstein.

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