User Reviews

Turns out Dorian Harewood has the most important role of the entire... THE ENTIRE Roots series, both of them, the latter, Generations, which is better than the original because it's less melodramatic, there aren't as many characters cluttering the drama, and it's a handing-off of just the important characters, from Georg Standford Brown to Stan Shaw to Harewood, and this is the army episode, the war episode, and it's pretty great, with scenes stolen by his army pal Bernie Casey, always terrific...

Chapter four finds Simon Haley (Dorian Harewood) a willing volunteer in Uncle Sam's army, though black soldiers don't receive the same kind of reverence as the white boys. Back in Henning, Bertha Palmer (Irene Cara) patiently waits for her man to come home, while her father Will (Stan Shaw) tries in vain to exempt farmer and three time father Luke Bettiger (Charles Robinson) from the unforgiving draft board, who are only interested in meeting their quota for the county. Doxey Walker (Charles Weldon) wonders if it's worth it seeing one of his fellow soldiers beaten by racist cops: "what we got against them Germans, seems like we fighting the wrong white men!" France is no cakewalk either, but Lt. Ten Van Eyck (John Rubinstein) is duly impressed by the resilience shown by his troops under duress, hopelessly undermanned but still able to save his life. Simon's long awaited homecoming means wedding bells for he and Bertha, who will be leaving for Cornell University in New York, where Simon will study for his degree in agriculture. Some 14 months pass before an impatient Will Palmer is surprised by his visiting son-in-law, presenting the newest addition to the family to greet the waiting moon by November 1921 - Alexander Murray Palmer Haley, future author of the acclaimed ROOTS.