Monday, November 18, 2019

Favorite Characters: Ralph Angel Bordelon (Queen Sugar)


Disclaimer, there are definitely moments where Ra aggravates me big time, especially where Darla is concerned. However, I do really continue to like him on the whole. Youngest of the Bordelan brood and the only son, Ralph Angel is a mess who’s made some bad decisions and received some tough breaks, who’s now working on the long, difficult task of pulling himself back up (a few Ralph Angel-related spoilers.)

Ralph Angel’s sisters, though no strangers to big problems of their own, have both worked hard at their careers and have seen the fruits of their labors pay off.  Meanwhile, Ralph Angel hasn’t fared quite as well.  He starts out the series on parole, snared in the system that will throw him back in jail for being unemployed while simultaneously fostering a culture in which employers are unwilling to take a chance on ex-cons.  More than anything, he wants to get himself sorted out so he can provide and be there for his young son Blue, but at every turn, he feels he’s being set up to get torn back down.  Even when he seems to be thrown a lifeline, with Charley and Nova agreeing to bring in a harvest when the three siblings inherit their father’s sugar cane farm, circumstance still feels like it’s conspiring against him, and he often appears to be hanging onto his second chance by the skin of his teeth.

To be sure, a lot of this comes from external forces:  the aforementioned red-tape catch 22s that like to catch parolees, societal distrust of ex-cons who are looking to reform, opportunistic big farmers looking to buy him out, impatient creditors, and even the unforgiving Louisiana weather.  Every time Ralph Angel tries to turn a corner for himself and Blue, another roadblock seems to get thrown up.  It’s a lot to take, and it’s no wonder he often thinks the world doesn’t want him to succeed.

Within that, however, is also quite a bit of self-sabotage on Ralph Angel’s part.  In the wake of constantly feeling held back, dehumanized, and emasculated, Ralph Angel finds it difficult to deal with his anger, frustration, and fear.  And so, he does dumb things, sometimes monumentally dumb.  He’s so desperate to make the farm work that, rather like Charley, he lets his pride get in the way of accepting the help he needs as a novice farmer, and that leads to expensive rookie mistakes he then tries to hide from his sisters rather than own up to, again because his pride is working against him.  When the employer the parole system says he’s required to have exploits him because he knows Ralph Angel has nowhere else to go, he starts teetering on the edge of getting sucked back into the bad roads he’d gone down in the first place.

At the same time, though, this is a person worth redemption.  When his emotions don’t hijack his brain, he’s a smart guy, dedicated to learning the ins and outs of farming.  He’s devoted to Blue and wants everything for his sweet boy.  He can be responsible, he can be funny, he can be caring – there’s so much he can be when he’s given a chance and he’s able to get out of his own way.  It’s a really interesting portrayal of what life can be like for a young man who’s made serious mistakes and is now trying to see if he’ll be allowed to atone.

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