When They See Us: Season 1 (2019)


Season 1
When They See Us

Critics Consensus

Ava DuVernay pulls no punches in When They See Us, laying out the harrowing events endured by the Central Park Five while adding a necessary layer of humanity to their story that challenges viewers to reconsider what it means to find justice in America.

96%

TOMATOMETER

Critic Ratings: 72

93%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 176
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Episodes

1
Air date: May 31, 2019
2
Air date: May 31, 2019
3
Air date: May 31, 2019
4
Air date: May 31, 2019

When They See Us: Season 1 Videos

Tv Season Info

Five teens from Harlem become trapped in a nightmare when they're falsely accused of a brutal attack in Central Park. Based on the true story.

Cast

Jovan Adepo
as Antron McCray
Reginald L. Barnes
as NYPD Officer Harmon
Asante Blackk
as Young Kevin Richardson
Marsha Stephanie Blake
as Linda McCray
Kylie Bunbury
as Angie Richardson
Chris Chalk
as Yusef Salaam
Jim Cleary
as Corrections Officer
Justin Cunningham
as Kevin Richardson
Omar Dorsey
as Elombre Brath
Aunjanue Ellis
as Sharon Salaam
Vera Farmiga
as Elizabeth Lederer
Caleel Harris
as (Young) Antron McCray
Ethan Herisse
as (Young) Yusef Salaam
Felicity Huffman
as Linda Fairstein
Chris Jackson
as Peter Rivera
Joshua Jackson
as Mickey Joseph
Famke Janssen
as Nancy Ryan
Jharrel Jerome
as Korey Wise
John Leguizamo
as Raymond Santana Sr.
Freddy Miyares
as Raymond Santana
Michael Murphy
as Leader of the Nation of Islam
Niecy Nash
as Delores Wise
Adepero Oduye
as Nomsa Brath
Marquis Rodriguez
as (Young) Raymond Santana
William Sadler
as Michael Sheehan
Blair Underwood
as Bobby Burns
Jasmin Walker
as Nurse Rikers
Show More Cast

News & Interviews for When They See Us: Season 1

Critic Reviews for When They See Us Season 1

All Critics (72) | Top Critics (22)

DuVernay makes an effective artistic choice by filming much of this through a blue filter, so that the boys' world is enveloped by a Kafkaesque indigo gloom from which they - and the viewer - can find no escape.

May 31, 2019 | Full Review…
Top Critic

In rendering their journeys, DuVernay pays careful attention to the terrifying power of language, especially the animalistic rhetoric with which prosecutors and journalists referred to the teens.

Jun 3, 2019 | Full Review…

When They See Us achieves quite a lot, asking us all to consider exactly who in America really gets the presumption of innocence when accused of a crime.

Jun 1, 2019 | Full Review…
NPR
Top Critic

[Ava] DuVernay's direction and writing is clear-eyed and focused, and puts a heavy emphasis on what the boys and their families lost over their decades-long ordeal.

May 31, 2019 | Full Review…

Taken as a whole, there's a lot to recommend When They See Us. It does as much as it can to recast the gaze on Black and brown people, eliciting empathy and the desire for justice.

May 30, 2019 | Rating: 3.5/4 | Full Review…

The emotional weight of Duvernay's respect for the physical and emotional facts settled slowly in your stomach.

May 30, 2019 | Rating: 5/5 | Full Review…

That two of the four words in the series' title are 'us' and 'they' says something about how much our discourse about justice is defined along entrenched polemical lines.

Aug 19, 2019 | Full Review…

The unsparing nature of When They See Us has sparked conversations about whether it's another in a long line of works that rehash Black trauma.

Aug 18, 2019 | Rating: B+ | Full Review…

The first half of the four-part miniseries When They See Us, from acclaimed director Ava Duvernay (Selma, 2014), is a gut-wrencher.

Jul 25, 2019 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

The acting was phenomenal, as was the way they told the story.

Jul 15, 2019 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

Audience Reviews for When They See Us: Season 1

  • 21h ago
    I had heard about the Central Park 5, but I did not know their story. I would not recommend this four part series as a "must-watch", but it is certainly something I had to see because I did not know their/our story. Their story is the weight of carrying this Black Skin; stolen, beaten, enslaved, oppressed, colonized, robbed, marginalized. I shed tears for Korey Wise, then I wept for the Children of African descent, for we are surrounded by wicked men and it seems our Salvation is not of this Earth.
  • 6d ago
    Amazing, but most of all, touching. Must see!
  • Aug 24, 2019
    Ava DuVernay puts the hard truhts together with a refreshingly empathetic look into a controversial real life case, crafting a heartbreaking, painful, yet touching depiction of racism in America.
  • Aug 20, 2019
    Beautiful. Harrowing. Stunning. A must see.
  • Aug 19, 2019
    Emotionally manipulative and strangely paced. Duvarney's direction is overly melodramatic. Recommend Watching the documentary on Central Park Five.
  • Aug 17, 2019
    This is probably the greatest and most interesting show in the last decade!
  • Aug 11, 2019
    The acting was phenomenal on each episode it felt like it was a hole new level...I really enjoyed it. Not to say that the story behind it..being on real life it felt even more on it.
  • Aug 09, 2019
    Absolutely respecting TV show with a great idea revealed in a gorgeous way.. Loved EVERY SINGLE MINUTE out of it .. Hope it continue with a new case and with the same perfection
  • Aug 06, 2019
    It should win an Emmy for sure.
  • Aug 06, 2019
    Best thing ms. duvernay has done. Hopefully she gets to continue with her own projects instead of the schlock she's been handed by disney. this is so much better

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