Kerry Washington, Delroy Lindo Want to Normalize Conversations About Life After Incarceration in Unprisoned

In case you missed it, the beloved Onyx Collective series Unprisoned—starring Kerry Washington, Delroy Lindo, Faly Rakotohavana, Jordyn McIntosh and more—is back for its second season on Hulu.

And just like the previous season, where fans were introduced to Alexander family’s carousel of issues which included but weren’t limited to intergenerational trauma, healing your inner child, and mental health—what continues to be the overarching theme is navigating life with someone who’s formerly incarcerated. In this series, that’s shown through Lindo’s character “Edwin” who, after a 17-year bid, is now free and trying to re-establish himself and his relationships with his daughter (Washington’s “Paige”) and grandson (Rakotohavana’s “Finn”). To help them, in enters a new “family radical healing coach” who throws out all the rules in an attempt to free them of their issues, old wounds, and family secrets holding them back.

It’s a dynamic you don’t normally see on TV, at least not played out in this way. But more importantly for both Lindo and Washington, it’s an opportunity to shed further light on the reality of formerly incarcerated people’s lives and how they’re newfound freedom not only impacts them but those around them. But don’t get it twisted, their depiction doesn’t just center drama, it also centers a path for redemption and that’s something Lindo specifically hopes audiences walk away with.

“The cats who, the people who have been incarcerated. They’re as deserving as anybody else, they are. They are deserving males, females—anybody incarcerated are deserving of dignity. And if they are willing to make the effort to invest in their lives, then we as a society have to be invested in giving them that opportunity,” Lindo told The Root during a limited set visit for the show in North Hollywood. “And because there’s so many Black and brown people—and I’m talking about all the incarcerated people—but we all know that there’s a disproportionate number statistically of Black and brown people. But to the extent that we disproportionately get shuttled off into that system, and there are a lot of people who, would want to just leave us there and throw the key away: we are deserving. Deserving as much as any other human being of dignity and the opportunity to turn our lives around. Because, who among us has not made some mistakes?”

For Washington, who has been vocal about a myriad of social justice issues, she also sees coming back to the show for its second season as a way to normalize and have further conversations about the effect the justice system has on families like the Alexander’s and more broadly, showcase a way in which those families can come back together after being torn apart.

“According to the ACLU, there’s 2 million Americans who are incarcerated. So the ripple effect of family and friends who are impacted by every single one of those people that is part of this so-called justice system. This is a story that is in many ways about all of us. It’s about how you how you find love and forgiveness and trust when you’re up against a system that breaks people down and breaks families down,” she said to The Root. “I think the statistic from the ACLU is that mass incarceration has grown 500% in the last 50 years. It’s insane. So each of those people has been so deeply impacted in the way that Edwin has. And then each of those people has a circle of family and friends around them that is also deeply impacted by having a person who’s in the system and then even the complications of coming out of that system.”

And while the subject matter may be somewhat lofty, the levity brought to it through a comedy like Unprisoned helps to bring a level of empathy and understanding to those in and outside the system. It’s also reaffirmed both Lindo and Washignton’s humanity and their desire to connect with themselves, their work, and audiences on a deeper level.

“Navigating myself as Edwin. I would like to believe has affirmed a part of my humanity. When I say a part of my humanity, it’s not that I didn’t know that I had it. But it’s just that I can create yet another human being that resonates with audiences. It’s another notch in my journey as a creative worker, where I’m being deeply affirmed,” Lindo explained.

Washington said:

“I think playing Paige has really, allowed me to be I think there’s a very quirky side of me. And that side was not given any air in the Scandal years, right? Olivia Pope is a lot of things, but she is not quirky and anxious and neurotic. And so Paige allows me to bring those parts of myself forward and not hide them with any sense of shame. But bring those parts of myself forward with love and to celebrate the weird, quirky, anxious parts.”

She added: “I think the series is in so many ways about us as a country, what justice looks like and what justice can be in the wake of this unjust system. But also, even if you don’t know directly how it impacts you—it’s really an intergenerational comedy about learning how to live together and love each other despite the challenges that get thrown at you.”

All episodes of Unprisoned are available to stream now on Hulu.

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