‘The Porter' Is a Rich Period Drama About Labor and Dignity
Beyond its porters, the show also follows people at a night club, a brothel, the beginnings of a medical clinic; it covers Canadian politics, American politics and railroad politics. Sure, the characters are all miraculously connected through the enchanting magic of narrative television, but the idea that one's plight is tied to another's is also one of the main ideas of the show. Solidarity matters — and the people who tell you that you're one of the good ones and to slam the door behind you are the people who benefit from your exploitation, not your success. Don't trust someone else to define dignity.
It's a show about a train, so there's a sense of real momentum and destiny. Things are moving, and the characters are motivated, so the story feels exciting even when it's tragic. The camera here is shaky and searching, sometimes tilting with the rocking of the train cars but also, like the characters, always scanning the scene for someone to trust, always a little unsettled.
So many streaming shows feel like the TV equivalent of gray laminate Zillowcore, resigned to a lack of specialness and taste in favor of volume and repetition. Part of what's so pleasurable about 'The Porter' is how full its moments are, how crafted. There's a melody to the clacking of its typewriters and a viciousness to the half-eaten sandwiches on its plates.
'Every task is a chance to show your excellence,' says Zeke (Ronnie Rowe), our labor hero, explaining the virtue of the perfect place setting. (I've thought about this line every single time I've folded a napkin in the past three years.)
There's only one season of 'The Porter,' which is a shame, but luckily it is an excellent rewatch. I like it even more now than I did when it debuted.
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