Lincoln Heights: A Family Drama with Substance
ABC Family Delivers with Its Urban California Series
One of the best family-oriented shows on the tube right now is without a doubt ABC Family’s freshman success Lincoln Heights. The series focuses on Southern California’s five-member Sutton family, headed by career police officer Eddie (Russell Hornsby) and nurse Jenn (Nicki Micheaux). In the January 8 premiere, the Suttons moved to Eddie’s childhood inner-city neighborhood, the title Lincoln Heights, in order to take advantage of the police department’s special incentive program for cops willing to live in the dangerous neighborhoods they patrol in return for affordable home ownership. Yet, the fact that most dreams are easier imagined than actually realized—especially when you uproot three teenagers and force them to live in less-than-ideal circumstances—gives rise to the Sutton family’s continuing struggle between achieving the goal of financial prosperity by remaining in the new neighborhood and foregoing it in the immediate future by moving to less risky and stressful environs.
That central “fight or flight” conflict underlies most of the week-to-week plots as the Sutton children grapple with their new living situation and their parents’ attempts to provide the appropriate guidance, keep the family unit strong, and protect them from harm. Older daughter Cassie (Erica Hubbard) is, at the start of the series, a moody and artistically inclined sixteen-year-old high school student who soon meets and almost immediately becomes romantically involved with a fellow student named Charles (Robert Adamson). Middle child and youngest daughter Lizzie (Rhyon Brown) is a strong-willed, athletic girl of fifteen, while youngest child and only son Tay (Mishon Ratliff) is a sensitive, intelligent thirteen-year-old who grows increasingly comfortable in his own skin.
Episodes aired thus far have used a parade of talented recurring and guest performers to take on urgent, thought-provoking issues that are not uncommon in real-life urban settings. These have ranged from random gang violence and dirty cops to abandoned babies and the divide between upwardly mobile and lower-class black Americans. The one thing that remains constant throughout the diverse, intriguing, and well-written storylines, however, is the importance of one’s family in helping to maintain hope and stability in uncertain times.
While watching early installments of Lincoln Heights, I thought the very mature and adult-oriented series might have problems attracting an adequate audience on a network defined by youth-oriented programs that tend to revolve around the perpetual angst of teen life and relationships. I was wrong. Apparently, viewers appreciate the show’s hard-hitting focus and its frequent spotlight on the character Eddie and the various predicaments he encounters as a dedicated career police officer. The criminal activity that figures heavily in each episode is definitely not pretty stuff, making the counterbalancing effect of the Sutton family members an essential component of providing perspective and reinforcing the benefits of determination and unity.
ABC Family has obviously recognized the value of Lincoln Heights along with viewers since the basic-cable network recently renewed the series for a second season. During a period when there is not a single prominent ethnic family drama on television, this development is commendable and welcomed.
The Verdict: A
The first-season finale of Lincoln Heights, “The F Word,” airs tonight on ABC Family at 7pm EST
Lincoln Heights photo courtesy of ABC Family
