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Season 1 – The Chi

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Season 1 – The Chi

Jan 2018

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

87%

Tomatometer

47 Reviews

76%

Popcornmeter

250+ Ratings

The South Side of Chicago carries daily danger, and the smallest and simplest of decisions can have life or death consequences for the residents. Life continues as the kids prep for school and their parents shuffle off to work. The young adults of the area are trying to scrape a living for themselves, while the elders sit on their front porches and observe the goings on. The South Side has the potential to crush dreams, and this coming-of-age series focuses on Kevin, a preteen who embraces the normal rites of childhood, Brandon, who makes a leap of faith to succeed in love and life with Jerrika, Emmett, who seeks guidance from his mother, and Ronnie, who is a drifter struggling to be loved. All of them are linked together by sheer coincidence as they seek redemption.

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Critics Consensus

Like an optimistic companion to The Wire, The Chi explores the complexities of life in the South Side of Chicago, with a tender touch and a clear affection for its captivating characters.

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Veronica Hilbring

Bitch Media

03/05/2021

One of the most authentic onscreen depictions of Chicago.

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Mike Hale

New York Times

03/05/2018

Ms. Waithe has succeeded in putting a wide web of interesting and sympathetic characters on screen and telling their stories with a minimum of sentimentality and a consistent, welcome dose of low-key humor.

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Doreen St. Felix

The New Yorker

01/22/2018

All this plot leaves characters with so little downtime that they can only appear skeletally sketched.

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Phumlani S Langa

City Press (South Africa)

03/06/2019

4/5

The best parts of this show are provided by a trio of primary school kids by the names of Kevin, Jake and Papa. These three kill it.

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Dominic Patten

Deadline Hollywood Daily

01/09/2019

[It] is at its best when it drills into the minutia and intimacy of its wide cast of characters.

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Valerie Ettenhofer

Film School Rejects

10/24/2018

Lena Waithe positions South Side life front and center like we've never seen before.

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Shontal J

Jun 29

Season 7 of The Chi is lackluster at best. What started out as a show with authentic tapestry is now a soap opera laced with scraps of others narrative’s about the culture of Black community.

Mary G

Mar 8

The first season of this show was the most engaging and definitely worth a watch. Spoiler alert: two of the more interesting characters (actors) leave the show in later seasons and also in later seasons the story lines start to really drag on for multiple episodes like a soap opera. I now watch the show sporadically (in these later seasons) and never miss a beat; that's how slow it moves. Hopefully the story lines will move much faster from now on.

donnie m

01/06/2025

i have watched every season and i like the series but i don't like following people into the bdrm and watching them have sex just like in real life-close the door on that sh.t and it seems the most important things in most of their lives are finding good pot and not getting killed by some psycho gangster

Natnael B

09/02/2023

Kind of dark it had great story and the casts performance is another level good casting. I liked it it is good starting i wish everyone could watch this drama.

Michael G

07/24/2023

This show is amazing . I love it! Shout out to the entire cast for making this such a great show. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

04/05/2021

one of the best shows to ever be produced, it really does a good job of making you feel for the characters, even the ones that we are supposed to dislike, what's more, it makes you care for the people who in real life might go through these things, in other words, in my opinion it is powerful in off to make you care.

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Lena Waithe

Creator

Jason Mitchell

Brandon

Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine

Ronnie Davis

Jacob Latimore

Emmett

Alex R. Hibbert

Kevin

Yolonda Ross

Jada

Episode 1

Aired Jan 7, 2018

Pilot

A fateful event sends shockwaves through a community on the south side of Chicago, connecting four lives.

Details

Episode 2

Aired Jan 14, 2018

Alee

Brandon reels from a loss; Ronnie realizes he made a mistake; Emmett's carefree life gets upended; Papa and Jake taunt Kevin about Andrea; conflicting clues shake Cruz.

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Episode 3

Aired Jan 21, 2018

Ghosts

Brandon asks Kevin for help; Laverne and Greavy make a decision; Amir tries to capitalize on Emmett's side gig; Quentin launches his own investigation.

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Episode 4

Aired Jan 28, 2018

Quaking Grass

Brandon seeks refuge when Jerrika kicks him out; Ronnie runs into Rafiq; Quentin takes something from Trice; Brandon makes a bad deal with Reg.

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Episode 5

Aired Feb 11, 2018

Today Was a Good Day

A neighborhood block party brings Brandon, Ronnie, Emmett, and Kevin together; Brandon has a confrontation with Ronnie and gets surprised by Jerrika.

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Episode 6

Aired Feb 18, 2018

Penetrate a Fraud

Brandon's actions jeopardize his relationship with Jerrika; Ronnie uncovers secrets about his surrogate son's past and gives a crucial piece of information to the police; Emmett's shoe hustle goes awry.

Details

Episode 7

Aired Feb 25, 2018

The Whistle

Brandon compromises his employment by defending a co-worker; Emmett spends an eye-opening day with Quentin; Kevin tries to get Andrea's attention at the roller rink.

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Episode 8

Aired Mar 4, 2018

Wallets

Brandon branches out on his own; Emmett searches for his son after Tiffany takes him away; Ronnie seeks redemption at a mosque where he meets Rafiq; Kevin tries to stop his best friend from going down a dark path.

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Episode 9

Aired Mar 11, 2018

Namaste Muthaf...

Brandon attempts a reconciliation with Jerrika, but struggles to establish his business; Kevin realizes he can't stop Jake; Emmett reels when Jada is offered a job in another state.

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Episode 10

Aired Mar 18, 2018

Ease on Down the Road

Ronnie faces his past crimes; Brandon's plan to finance his business goes awry; Kevin stars in the school play and attends a cast party with his friends; Emmett decides to fight for full custody.

Details

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