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TV Diary

 "Unforgotten" is a British series about outrage, about the silos we live in now that it's 2025.


In the present day, a white woman in a university position teaches a course about race. A particularly obnoxious (white) student asks for extracurricular reading. The teacher suggests a memoir by a Black scholar; the memoir has a provocative title that makes use of the "n" word. The student then cries foul; she believes she has suffered from a microaggression.

Elsewhere, a former nun has a kind of "Kellyanne Conway" role on Fox TV. She shouts about immigration and transgender people. But--secretly--she believes that anyone should have the right to choose an abortion. And she is shtupping her priest.

Meanwhile, the central character, an investigator, wonders about his own knee-jerk reactions. He has entered a relationship with someone who makes a reference to a cloudy personal history. The cloudiness is impacting the present; the new girlfriend becomes evasive and even rude, and it's clear that she is not "OK" with herself. The central figure has to consider how much he is willing to empathize, how much patience he can offer.

"Unforgotten" exists because it's a mystery series; every season is built on a cold case. But--at least in the most recent season--the cold case is not terribly important. It's like a "Mike White" murder. It hooks you--and it half-disguises the writer's real intention, which is just to explore human psychology.

I have liked every season of this show; there are six now. Time flies. I hope we'll get a few more.
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