A radical Black midwife and an erotic photographer become unlikely friends just as America is falling into Civil War.

SYNOPSIS:

Radicals written by Nancy Ostertag & Vanessa Ruane

Pilot Summary:

A Fearful Storm

Radicals opens in the middle of the night with a knock on Sarah Brown’s door. Sarah follows a messenger to a ship where she meets the charismatic Reverend John Hayden who leads her to a woman in labor hiding below deck with her husband. He tells her they're fleeing north. Sarah helps the woman safely deliver a son, before watching the ship sail away. Last Island survivor, Lizzie Shaw steps off a train clutching her camera, the only thing she saved from a storm. A man with a clipboard looks down a long list of Shaw names. “Anyone else?” She shakes her head no. Lizzie arrives at her grandfather, Dr. Randolph’s infirmary where Sarah treats her wounds, and the two of them bond over a shared interest in chemistry. Dr. Randolph expects Lizzie to stay home and recover, but she ignores him. She rents a photo studio and makes new friends who inspire her to produce a photo show to tell her story. Sarah attends a poetry reading at John’s church. On the walk home, they kiss for the first time. Soon after, Sarah meets with John's mother and sister to offer her assistance with their underground activities. When Lizzie starts working in her studio late at night, she is featured in a gossip column, and Dr. Randolph thinks she has hysteria. He grounds her in her room, trying an isolation cure. Desperate, Lizzie begs Sarah for help. Sarah agrees to get a letter to Lizzie's friends. While on a house call at Justice Taney's home, Sarah overhears him talking about a letter campaign conducted by President Elect, Buchanan to influence the Dred Scott decision. After weeks of confinement, Lizzie’s friends finally convince Dr. Randolph to let her do her show. It’s a hit, and the photos sell out. That night she attends an after-party, and invites three actresses back to her studio. At the Church's winter ball, Sarah and John discuss the implications of what she heard at Justice Taney's, before enjoying a romantic night together. When it is almost curfew, Sarah decides to stay. At dawn she wakes up in John's arms, both of them still dressed. She tears herself away to go get changed for another call at Justice Taney's apartment. Tipsy from drinking champagne all night, Lizzie sees the actresses silhouetted by the sunrise, and takes a photograph. The ladies slip out of their shifts and start kissing. One of them reaches out, pulls Lizzie into the group, and they all tumble into bed together, When Justice Taney falls asleep in his study after his treatment, Sarah stokes the fire to heat up the room, then steals a look at his desk, and reads a draft of the Dred Scott opinion. She is appalled at what she reads. She stands there, still holding the poker from the fireplace, looking down at Taney, seething with rage.

RADICALS