Netflix, you have one job. I just finished reading S.A. Cosby’s All The Sinners Bleed, and I want the streaming service to keep the TV adaptation as close to the original story as possible. With the cast of the upcoming nine-episode limited series being top-notch, I’m excited to see how this turns out.
The plot of the novel follows Titus Crown, Charon County’s first Black sheriff, as he tries to answer the rural county’s biggest question: Who is the Last Wolf?
According to Tudum by Netflix, Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù (Black Rabbit) will play Titus, Daniel Ezra (All American) will play Marquis, John Douglas Thompson(The Gilded Age) will play Albert, and Murray Bartlett (The White Lotus) will playScott Cunningham, with more heavy hitters.
Heads up: This story contains some spoilers.
What is All The Sinners Bleed about?
A so-called “beloved” teacher is killed by a former student, who is then killed by the police. An investigation opens one of the wildest cans of worms. The teacher, Mr. Jeff Spearman, isn’t the man residents thought he was. He convinced Latrell, the student who killed him, to participate in heinous acts. While they’re identified in evidence collected at the teacher’s house, a third person wore a wolf mask.
The novel follows Titus’s determination to identify the ‘Last Wolf.’ The mystery person toys with the Sheriff and kills anyone who knows too much. As a reader, I was introduced to the Sheriff’s team, his stubborn father and estranged brother, Albert and Marquis, his girlfriend Darlene, and a few residents of Charon County who would rather jump off a cliff than see Titus in power.
The character is also still mourning his mom and haunted by a decision he made while at the FBI before returning home to be Charon County’s lead protector.
What I want to see in the adaptation
I know when a book is adapted for film or television, character names can change, new characters might be added, the ending might change, and character traits might differ from the original version. While I’m aware of that, I want Netflix and Joe Robert Cole, who did an amazing job with Ryan Coogler on the screenplays for Black Panther and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, to keep Titus the same.
I appreciated the character’s rawness, honesty (despite keeping a secret), and bravery. If Kellie, the journalist and Titus’s ex-girlfriend, is in the show, I would love to see more of her background. And maybe we’ll get a deeper insight into why their relationship didn’t last. In the novel, the two still had chemistry, even though Titus had a new lover, Darlene.
There will only be nine episodes, so not everything will fit, but regardless, I can’t wait to watch it.
Header photo credit: Lashaunta Moore/Netflix
