Aahana Swrup
Hulu’s adventure-heavy historical show ‘Washington Black’ centers around its protagonist’s journey of self-actualization. George Washington Black goes from an 11-year-old boy working at a slave plantation to escaping his past in the company of an idealist inventor and white abolitionist, Christopher “Titch” Wilde. Yet, years later, when he finds himself in Nova Scotia, he’s still running from a haunted past. Even so, this doesn’t stop him from creating new relationships, not even when he comes across the enchanting Tanna Goff. Tanna is a biracial woman whose ability to pass as white is crucial to her father and their family’s future. Nonetheless, she dreams of penning a different story for herself. Inevitably, as these two young dreamers fall in love with one another, they’re prepared to walk through all the challenges that stand in the way of their union. SPOILERS AHEAD!
The Love Triangle Between Tana, Wash, and McGee
When we first meet Tanna, a young new arrival in Nova Scotia, she seems to be brimming with hope and idealism. Nonetheless, some of that threatens to dim once her father shares his plans to strike up a marriage between her and Billy McGee, a wealthy young businessman. The Goff family name has been tarnished in London after the fierce daughter refused to hide the truth about her racial identity. She’s proud of the heritage she gains from her mother’s side, as a Solomon Islander. Therefore, even though her skin and her hair allow it, she refuses to live life as a white-passing woman. Tanna’s decision ends up costing her father his reputation in London’s high society.
As such, now an advantageous marriage is all that can save the family from sinking into financial and social ruin. The groom whom Mr. Goff finds for his daughter is also relatively amenable. He isn’t easily deterred by Tanna’s attempts to sabotage their engagement and even accepts her for her biracial identity. In fact, if anything, his courage to live life on her conditions despite societal norms instills feelings of admiration and respect in the businessman. This is partly because the man claiming to be Billy is actually a petty criminal named Gordon, who has all but stolen the real McGee’s life to allow himself a better reality.
For the same reason, Billy sees Tanna beyond her social standing as the daughter of a rich, white man, and yearns to be similarly understood. Yet, this can’t be possible because the latter’s heart has already been won over by someone else. In a matter of a few coincidental meetings and then intentional late-night rendezvous, Tanna has managed to fall deeply in love with Wash. Most of her life, Tanna has been encouraged to hide her identity as a Black woman and only embrace part of her identity. Even though her father insists his actions are only for her own safety and benefit, they’re still restrictive, oppressive, and prejudiced. While Billy is more appreciative of the conflict she experiences in being forced to live a dual life, it’s only Wash who truly sees the young woman for who she truly is and wants to be.
Tanna Opposes Her Financially Sound Engagement to McGee
Billy McGee and Tanna Goff make a promising pair. His riches can allow financial stability to her family, while her father’s family name will earn him a spot in high society. Furthermore, while this remains the initial nucleus of their engagement, Billy also begins to develop feelings for his fiancée along the way. Likewise, although Tanna refutes it, she did enjoy his company before learning about their future marital contract. Thus, even though it isn’t a fairytale romance, there’s space for happiness and companionship in the couple’s future. Or at least there could have been, if Tanna’s heart hadn’t already been promised to another. The young woman knows pursuing a romance with Wash will bring complications into her life. Even outside of racial dynamics at play, the young inventor carries a heavy past with him, as slave hunters are chasing him for a crime he never committed.
Nevertheless, even such a complication doesn’t deter Tanna from her lovesick conviction. Initially, she tries to solve the problem of her father’s disagreement with Wash by appealing to his scientific sensibilities. When that fails, she decides to turn to another avenue: Billy. Despite it all, the latter is a good man with a good heart who seems to genuinely care about her. For the same reason, once she makes it clear that nothing romantic can happen between them, even if she’s forced to marry him, the two arrive at a different solution. Billy has enough money to take care of the Goff family’s debts without making any real dent in his finances. Therefore, he decides to help Tanna out financially, without expecting anything in return from her.
Tanna and Wash Win the Fight For Their Love
Around the same time that Tanna and Billy strike up the deal that will financially liberate the former from her father’s expectations of her marriage, Wash also slays a complication in his life. Willard, a slave hunter, has been diligently chasing the young man for years now, wrongfully charging him for Phillip Wilde’s death. Finally, in Nova Scotia, Willard comes close to catching Wash, which leads to a physical altercation in the woods. In the end, the slave hunter dies, liberating the young inventor from the looming threat of capture. Thus, with these problems sorted, there is nothing stopping Tanna nd Wash from being together.
Wash decides to accompany the Goffs back to London, where Mr. Goff plans on enlisting the young man’s invention, an aquarium, in the Royal Science Leauge’s annual exhibition. Initially, Tanna believes her father will do the right thing and credit her lover for the invention. Nonetheless, when the time comes, Mr. Goff simply steals the fanfare for himself. Consequently, the daughter decides to cut ties with her father and officially joins her life with Wash’s. Together, the duo goes on to complete many other adventures, mostly dealing with the ghosts of their paths. Eventually, they get married and travel to their ancestral homelands in Africa and Oceania in the balloon airship that Wash creates. Ultimately, the married couple even goes on to have a daughter together, Nawi, penning the perfect happy ending for their stories.
Read More: Do Wash and Titch Die in Washington Black?
