--- description: Despite issues with style and pace, this adaptation of Zakiyah Dalila Harris' insightful book-publishing satire is hard to dismiss. title: Hulu's 'The Other Black Girl' Poses Haunting Questions image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt565a4de93402be08/698a4020cabb1d3643e51bba/tobg_101_wh_00457r_3k.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Television](/tag/television/) ## Television Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Hulu's _The Other Black Girl_ Poses Tough Questions About Black Allyship in a White Workplace  by [Judy Berman](/author/judy-berman/)  ## Judy Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close TV Critic Sep 13, 2023 10:00 AM CUT  Ashleigh Murray, left, and Sinclair Daniel in The Other Black Girl Ashleigh Murray, left, and Sinclair Daniel in The Other Black GirlWilford Harwood—Hulu  by [Judy Berman](/author/judy-berman/)  ## Judy Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close TV Critic Sep 13, 2023 10:00 AM CUT _The Other Black Girl_ is a story set in the rarified realm of book publishing—and a title whose genesis became a breathlessly discussed story within that world. [Zakiya Dalila Harris’ debut novel](https://time.com/collection/100-must-read-books-2021/6120589/the-other-black-girl/ "undefined") satirizes not just the industry’s whiteness, but also its superficial attempts to diversify its ranks and output in response to [widespread criticism](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/12/11/opinion/culture/diversity-publishing-industry.html "undefined"). The subject of a [14-way bidding war](https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-other-black-girl-author-zakiya-dalila-harris-on-the-true-story-behind-her-first-novel-kv7zzgcts "undefined"), the book ultimately sold to Atria Books for the startling sum of [$1 million](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/23/books/zakiya-dalila-harris-other-black-girl.html "undefined"). Even before its publication, in 2021, the author was collaborating with [Rashida Jones](https://time.com/4764003/rashida-jones-hot-girls-wanted/ "undefined") on a series-length adaptation for Hulu. All of which further complicates the many messy questions about the kind of Black voices and stories that the white publishing establishment chooses to embrace that Harris raises in the text. The show, whose 10-episode season hits Hulu on Sept. 13, liberally remixes the plot of the book, repurposing its characters, setting, and central mystery for a less introspective medium. That Harris, Jones, and showrunners Jordan Reddout and Gus Hickey achieve that synthesis without sacrificing _The Other Black Girl_’s ambivalence or thematic complexity is an unequivocally good thing. Its slow pace and hesitance to go all-in on any of the genres it touches are less fortunate carryovers from the novel. For a satire, it’s not as funny as you’d hope. For a psychological thriller, it lacks suspense. For a horror story, it’s not particularly scary.  From left: Eric McCormack, Garcelle Beauvais, Sinclair Daniel, and Ashleigh Murray in The Other Black Girl Wilford Harwood—Hulu When we meet 26-year-old Nella Rogers (Sinclair Daniel), she’s languishing as a longtime assistant—and the sole Black employee—at fictional prestige publishing house Wagner Books. (Harris spent three years on the editorial track at Knopf Doubleday.) Her dream is to become a full editor and publish important books by and about Black people, like her hero Kendra Rae Phillips, who shepherded Nella’s favorite book, _Burning Heart_, through Wagner in the 1980s. Now it looks like her boss, superstar editor Vera ([_Scandal_](https://time.com/5245048/scandal-series-finale/ "undefined")alum Bellamy Young), is finally talking about a promotion. Equally exciting is the arrival of a new assistant, Hazel ([_Riverdale_](https://time.com/4649889/riverdale-cw-review/ "undefined")’s Ashleigh Murray), the eponymous other Black girl. Suddenly, Nella is no longer a minority of one. The two women are, understandably, eager to make friends. But Hazel is not Nella’s mirror image so much as she’s the _after_ photo to Nella’s _before_. Which creates some tension. While Nella hides in dowdy workwear, fashionable Hazel energizes the business-casual office in bright colors, mixed patterns, and a Telfar bag the size of a mini fridge. While Nella bristles at her white colleagues’ guilt and microaggressions, generous Hazel introduces them to delicious food and cool music as a bubbly representative of Black culture. And when Nella nearly gets fired for telling Wagner’s most bankable author, Colin (Brian Baumgartner), at Hazel’s urging, that his new book contains a racist caricature, Hazel turns around and charms him with effusive praise. Hazel is too smart to be oblivious, too savvy to be apathetic. She just transcends the daily indignities of being an entry-level Black employee in an overwhelmingly white workplace. “Sometimes,” she explains to Nella, “you just have to be the person they want you to be.”  From left: Sinclair Daniel, Brian Baumgartner, and Bellamy Young in The Other Black Girl Wilford Harwood—Hulu It’s apparent early on that something is amiss at Wagner, beyond Hazel’s maneuvering. The company’s laid-back founder, Richard Wagner (Eric McCormack)—who’s such a blue-blooded insider, he’s literally married to a Kennedy—seems too cool to be true. When Nella looks in the mirror of the office elevator, the face staring back at her is Kendra Rae, who disappeared not long after _Burning Heart_ became a phenomenon. An anonymous note appears exhorting her to “LEAVE WAGNER NOW.” Paranoia seizes hold of Nella. Her fiercely loyal best friend, Malaika (Brittany Adebumola), and well-meaning white boyfriend, Owen (Hunter Parrish), get worried. This accretion of weirdness should transform _The Other Black Girl_ from workplace comedy of manners into something more thrilling or chilling. Harris has cited [_The Stepford Wives_ and _Get Out_](https://www.vulture.com/2021/06/zakiya-dalila-harris-other-black-girl-twist-ending.html "undefined")(which comes up in a snippet of self-aware dialogue) as inspirations, and the show’s plot certainly owes a debt to those narratives. Yet its atmosphere lacks the stylish intensity that enables those heady films to pack such a visceral punch. For the first half of the season, which moves sluggishly despite the half-hour episode length, the sinister secrets Nella will later uncover are foreshadowed, for the most part, through unimaginative horror tropes like institutional lighting that flickers menacingly. Then, when the truly wild revelations start to come out, the whole world of the show seems to massively underreact. Strong performances—notably from Daniel and Murray, who play Nella’s vulnerability against Hazel’s confidence, as well McCormack, who deftly balances charm and smarm—can’t compensate for indifferent direction.  Brittany Adebumola and Hunter Parrish in The Other Black Girl Wilford Harwood—Hulu [_Get Out_](https://time.com/4680563/get-out-movie-review/ "undefined")and _Stepford_ are a lot funnier, too. Book publishing, a theoretically high-minded but astoundingly homogenous and hierarchical industry in which power over underlings often functions as a consolation prize for underpayment, is ripe for satire. If the creators had sharpened its observational humor, the book might have fueled multiple seasons of incisive comedy. Instead, the jokes can feel like placeholders for better ones, the characters broad rather than specific. “Diversity matters!” Vera exclaims, then proceeds to explain to Nella why she must never speak another word about Colin’s offensive portrait of a Black woman. “I don’t even see color!” Colin protests, just like every other casually racist white person in pop culture. These are not minor problems. Yet despite the style and pace, the show is hard to dismiss. Even when the satirical humor clings to cliché, Harris’ inquiry into the dilemma of a smart, young, Black woman striving to not just achieve personal success, but also support her community delves far beyond the surface. Do you cling to your principles at all costs? (Nella: “I don’t wanna succeed if it means being the only one. That’s not what success looks like to me.”) Do you “sell out,” focus on your own career, and hope the mainstream influence you gain is worth the compromise? (Hazel: “You catch more flies with honey.”) Is the other Black girl in the office an ally or a rival? Harris, whose own career trajectory echoes aspects of both Nella and Hazel, thoughtfully weighs all sides of these questions without falling into the trap of overly tidy answers. And that’s worth celebrating. TV that hits all its technical marks is easy to find these days. Shows like _The Other Black Girl_, which raise insightful questions and leave you pondering, remain all too rare. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6312044/the-other-black-girl-review-hulu/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6312044/the-other-black-girl-review-hulu/"},"headline":"Hulu's The Other Black Girl Poses Tough Questions About Black Allyship in a White Workplace","datePublished":"2023-09-13T10:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:53:02.880Z","description":"Despite issues with style and pace, this adaptation of Zakiyah Dalila Harris' insightful book-publishing satire is hard to dismiss.","url":"https://time.com/6312044/the-other-black-girl-review-hulu/","keywords":["Television","review","culturepod"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt565a4de93402be08/698a4020cabb1d3643e51bba/tobg_101_wh_00457r_3k.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Judy Berman","jobTitle":"TV Critic","url":"https://time.com/author/judy-berman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt565a4de93402be08/698a4020cabb1d3643e51bba/tobg_101_wh_00457r_3k.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"They Say I'm Different","caption":"They Say I'm Different","creditText":"Wilford Harwood—Hulu","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/television/","name":"Television"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6312044/the-other-black-girl-review-hulu/","name":"Hulu's The Other Black Girl Poses Tough Questions About Black Allyship in a White Workplace"}}]}] ```