Wu-Tang: An American Saga takes us back to the beginning

Widely and generally considered to be one of the most highly influential hip hop groups in the history of the whole wide hip hop world ever, ranked as such by experts like Rolling Stone and NME, Wu-Tang Clan began to form in Staten Island, New York City, in the very early 1990s.

Of the fictional series Wu-Tang: An American Saga, streaming on Showmax, Review Geek tells us, correctly, that “although you can go into this with no prior knowledge of the Wu-Tang Clan and enjoy the show, this Hulu Original very much feels like a show designed and tailored to fans of their music.” Not only was the Clan a fluid concept, with numerous members recording together and as solo artists between 1992 and 2015, the core members also changed their names a few times along the way. 

“It’s a love letter to the origin of the group and for that alone, the show does an excellent job dramatising the events of each character’s life. The problem in doing this however, is those early episodes can make for some confusing viewing as you scramble to remember who everyone is and what their relationships are to one another,” adds Review Geek.

In the 10-episode first season of Wu-Tang: An American Saga, we go back to where it all began (not hip hop itself, which emerged in the 1980s, a whole other vibe; Wu-Tang took it far more hardcore), and while it’s not documentary (that’s covered in the docuseries Wu-Tang: Of Mics And Men), it is biographical. Its credibility as an accurate telling of events is cemented in that it was co-written by founding member RZA (pronounced “Rizza”) aka Prince Rakeem aka Robert/Bobby Diggs (and a couple of other aliases that are not important here), with Alex Tse (Watchmen, 2009). RZA, Tse and Clan member Method Man are executive producers so this is a series you can trust to tell it like it is.

And how it is, or was, was a ‘hood dominated by drugs and violence, an oppressive atmosphere that hangs over everybody’s heads. While all Bobby (Ashton Sanders) really wanted to do was focus on his music and his beats, he gets dragged into the “family business” when his brother Divine (Julian Elijah Martinez) is arrested and sent to jail. A significant portion of the series covers these events, and hopes and dreams being shot down or burned to ashes, with the later episodes teasing at the beginnings of the Clan’s recording successes.

“An American Saga positions Wu-Tang members in their 20s, before they took the rap game by storm: as drug dealers, hopeless dreamers, and young men trying to protect and provide for their families,” comments Thrillist.

According to RZA and Tse the series is a work of “historical fiction.” In July 2019, Tse told reporters at a Television Critics Association panel: “There are things in it that actually happened, there are versions of events. Spiritually, it’s very truthful and accurate.” RZA added: “You can’t take every moment and expound it. You condensed the moments. It’s like concentrated grape juice … you’ll learn more, you’ll be able to balance what’s reality and what ain’t.”

Even in a musical genre built on self-mythologising, few acts have crafted a narrative as varied and outsized as the Wu-Tang Clan, says The Hollywood Reporter, which makes this essential viewing for any fan of the genre.

Season 1 was nominated for an Emmy and three Black Reel Awards, including Outstanding Drama Series. It has a second season, and has been renewed for a third and final outing.

Want more historical fiction?

A completely different story, but another fictional series strongly rooted in truth is Dr Death, also streaming on Showmax. The scripted version stars Joshua Jackson (The Affair) as Dr Christopher Duntsch; the documentary series Dr Death: The Undoctored Story is also available to stream on Showmax. You can watch either one first because the former is an accurate portrayal of the latter. Both are simultaneously horrifying and terrifying. 

We put our entire trust in medical professionals to uphold their oath to do us no harm – “I will abstain from all intentional wrong-doing and harm” – an oath that stretches back to centuries BC, never mind to fix what ails us. Duntsch did exactly the opposite, operating on 38 patients, of whom, 33 were injured; two died. This number included causing his best friend, Jerry Summers, to become a paraplegic (he died in February 2021 from an infection resulting from his paralysis).

With delusions of grandeur and more than a touch of psychopathic narcissism, Duntsch was a big fan of the booze and the drugs. The night before he operated on Summers, the two did cocaine together. It boggles the mind. It would appear Summers was not only a physical victim of Duntsch but an emotional one too. 

Thankfully, two fellow physicians, neurosurgeon Robert Henderson and vascular surgeon Randall Kirby (Alec Baldwin and Christian Slater respectively), saw the pattern of botched surgeries that were beyond the realm of “mere” errors but most likely deliberate, and enlisted the help of Dallas prosecutor Michelle Shughart (AnnaSophia Robb), to stop Duntsch.

“In February of 2017, Christopher was sentenced to life in prison. As D Magazine put it, ‘His outcomes were so poor, so beyond the accepted standard of care, that a grand jury indicted him on five counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon as well as a single count of harming an elderly patient.’ The ‘deadly weapons’ were his hands and surgical tools,” says Good Housekeeping.

As frightening as it is, it’s riveting television.