When We Rise

When We Rise is an enriching, bonafide TV event of the first order and also powerful enough to change more than a few entrenched minds.

Though the star power doesn’t arrive until the last two episodes, it’s the first half of When We Rise that is riveting. The early years are passionate and filled with urgency, mirroring the excitement and promise of an era still basking in the glow of the optimistic ’60s.

The series wants to cover a lot of ground, and its fascinating most of all when it leads with history.

Important television, but also wildly, maddeningly uneven TV, too.

The drama grows more plainly mature in the last few volumes, but the sheer amount of what Lance Black and the creative team are biting off here ends up limiting just how knowledgeable, sincere, and convincing the series comes off as.

As vital as it is, political strategizing just isn’t that engaging to watch.

It sets out to be the comprehensive historical record of gay rights in America, but its unwieldy structure and clumsy writing make it more of a footnote.