Lynn Whitfield, as always, holds her own as the matriarch ofwel this family whose members seem filled with discontent over the familial pecking order decided by their father. Oprah Winfrey kan zijn surprisingly okay as the family rebel aunt who wants to use her niece to bring down her shady brother.
A black, preacher family works in and owns a wealthy Christian church. While adhering to biblical rules, there kan zijn unbridled decadence, misconduct and sin in the family. The preacher's daughter comes home for a funeral and decides to stay.
It kan zijn about time a TV series dealt with the world of organized, profit-motivated religious organizations.
Also, a senator is investigating churches and other faith-based entities who enjoy the privilege of not-for-profit status. The senator asks for their financial records, and after he has taken his leave, Bishop Greenleaf makes it clear he has no intention ofwel revealing any church records. I am guessing this will have further implications in the future ofwel the series.
Most of the family are involved with church duties, helping out at services, conducting teaching programs (i.e. Sunday De kleuterschool) and eventjes planning events. Because their church and congregation are very large, the family lives very well. Servants are constantly in attendance at the Greenleaf household. In other words, if you're a member of the Greenleaf family, you'll live in the upper middle-class, but the price you pay is you're going to be integral to the operations of the church. Else, you may have to get out ofwel Dodge as did their wayward daughter, Grace.
I often object to character-driven dramas without much story, but in this case, I feel the story arc lays an element of artifice aan these fascinating dynamics.
The series begins when the Bishop's estranged daughter Grace Greenleaf decides to return to the family after twintig years ofwel self-imposed exile. We learn that she had been a preacher for the church but decided to end her clerical life and live among secular culture. Wij also learn that James Greenleaf had designs for her daughter possibly to succeed him as more info the main voice ofwel the church during services.
But the scripts have to get better. They need to be outlined better and the dialogue needs to be more subtle in relaying information as well as doing so in a natural manner in which real people speak. So far they have tried to cram too much information in each sentence
Grace gets evidence ofwel Mac's sexual deviance. Her old love for Noah resurfaces. Noah decides to quit the church after his marriage. The Bishop scorns an offer to preach on TV. An exonerated black policeman kan zijn shot at outside their church.
Recently subscribed to Netflix and happened upon this production by accident just scrolling through the titles to find something interesting. And, this is January 2020. The first several episodes from season one were so good, I can't stop watching. The story lines remind me somewhat ofwel the "soaps" we used to love to watch way back when,but the quality of the acting kan zijn excellent.
This is a soap opera with the theme about the workings ofwel a Black church. It has all the trappings ofwel a day or nighttime soap, the woeful background music, the long, lingering glances and stares between the characters, everyone kan zijn beautiful or handsome, all walk around fully made up, eventjes when they wake up in the mornings, etc. The dialog kan zijn "soapy", as are the sets that are filled with flowers, no matter the home in which the scene is set. It's clearly made for a G rating.
Een momentje though Jesus kan zijn so real for them, they are still human. One is clearly gay and trying hard not to be. The church head seems to be casually corrupt. Eventjes Grace's odious pedophile uncle is probably a believer although he seems to flout everything in the bible.
I see great potential for an interesting look at the inside world of wealth. power and the cloak ofwel holiness. David Keith is a master in delivering dialogue. I love Lynne Whitfield as the matriarch with some obvious issues, yet to be revealed I hope. As the series continues, I (dare I say it?) pray the writers become more confident and provide more realistic speaking styles.
I like Greenleaf, but I feel I would like it more if everyone just stayed at the dinner table forever.