Why Hulu's series 'UnPrisoned' resonates with audiences according to Kerry Washington and Delroy Lindo
Kerry Washington and Delroy Lindo aren't known for comedy, but their Hulu show "UnPrisoned" from Onyx Collective captivated audiences when it debuted last year.
Kerry Washington isn’t known for comedy, and neither is Delroy Lindo. But when their show “UnPrisoned” from Onyx Collective debuted on Hulu last year, it caught audiences’ attention.
In the show, Edwin Alexander (Lindo) becomes “unprisoned” after 17 years, re-enters society and tries to reconnect with his grown daughter Paige, a therapist who shares her life and work on social media, and his teenage grandson. The premise reads more drama than laughter. But Edwin’s struggle is one that affects a lot of people, Lindo said via Zoom.
“It resonates for people in such personal ways,” he said. “And that’s the beauty of doing this particular work on [the] prison [system].”
The jail population ages 55 and older rose 24% from 2020 to 2021, according to a 2023 Prison Policy Initiative analysis of census data from local jails across the country. With America’s aging prison population, Black men are more likely to be handed down long sentences in their early 20s and remain incarcerated into their 50s, according to the Urban Institute. So Edwin’s story is increasingly common.
The show’s foundation is a very personal one for creator Tracy McMillan, a former journalist, screenwriter, relationship expert and host of the unscripted OWN series “Family or Fiancé.” She grew up in Minneapolis, where the show is set, and her own father was in and out of prison for most of her childhood and a lot of her adult life.
Rating: 5