Ridgweway simply says it’s due to a “lightning strike,” but Boseman has other thoughts. The origin of the fires can’t be agreed upon. This isn’t his only eye for literary dramatics. Ridgeway is obsessed with narrativizing his experience, seeing himself and Cora as fated antagonists to one another. “No sooner had I arrived than I found you,” he finishes. “Truth is, you were a surprise.” Ridgeway had heard the mention of a “station” after an abolitionist was apprehended in Southern Virginia, so he thought he’d do some detective work. “I figure you’re itching to find out how I really caught up with you in North Carolina, hmm?,” he starts.

When Ridgeway showed up in North Carolina and finds Cora, it was unexpected. So why are they heading that direction? When Boseman says, “That old man whistles, you just come running,” we understand it’s because Ridgeway’s heading home. The travelers that the group encounters on the way there are fleeing not just the fire but also yellow fever. Ridgeway plans to take Cora back toward Georgia, but as Cora notices from the position of the sun, they’re headed west, not south. This episode is about a handful of returns. Through the length of this episode, we learn a bit more about each character as they talk, traveling alongside them as they crawl their way across a burning Tennessee. This scene takes its time, much like most of “Chapter 5: Tennessee - Exodus” it tells us that what’s to come will be an exercise in endurance. Ridgeway, on his own horse, circles and surveils the group, making sure no one tries to run. In an ash-worn field, fire and smoke covering the ground, we watch a procession: Cora, walking alongside Ridgeway’s wagon, hands and ankles cuffed and chained horses steered by Homer and Boseman runaway Jasper (Calvin Leon Smith) in back. The fire follows Cora out of North Carolina.

Escape the underground asrial ending