In the middle of writing a report for a client, I found myself catching the latest episode of The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency on On Demand. For me, it’s another reason for me to swoon all over Jill Scott (no homo - ain’t it a damn shame that I have to say that?) and… well… escape some of the shit I’m hiding from in my own day to day and enjoy the beauty of Botswana. Like I said, I love beautiful scenery. It helps.

I’m happy to say that the episodes are getting much better - this most recent one, I could hardly keep up without turning the volume up and hitting that rewind button a good time or two. It was even my kind of mystery, with my being a lover of [and once obsessor over] Agatha Christie novels. I like the little build up to the crime, and I even like the crimes that are clearly so innocent that you can’t help but be charmed (as in, the two-o-clock doctor.)

Just like I did with Burn Notice (another show that I am PROUD to obsess over, especially as a resident of Miami), I started to hunt all over creation looking for ratings results for Agency. Of course, I couldn’t get what I was looking for without having to read through the opinions of a bunch of self-important assholes purporting themselves to be critics. Now, mind you, I’m not hating because they’re hating on my show - I’ve read reviews of people lauding the show and having not nary an iota of an idea about what makes it so special. However, a couple of the reviews make me wonder what is REALLY going on with American TV.

Reviews, I know, will make you want to tear your hair out. Reading the reviews for Burn Notice had me wanting to put a hit out on some critics because I just KNEW they were going to ruin my show for me. I remember being mad as hell when people questioned that show. “Those writers are gods (small G, don’t crucify me) with No. 2 pencils and I won’t let them be chastized!” I remember saying. That’s how I’m starting to feel about Agency.

Critics question why HBO would invest in something like this - assuming it must be because it is mad cheap to produce, easy to drum up scripts because of the books, and effortless because even though Jilly’s accent is dope… she’s not really acting or some shit - and say that the network should shelve it or ship it off to CBS (a network, mind you, that would treat an ALL Black casted show like hot coal dropped in their hands.) Because the show would look SO much better with 17 minutes of commercials stuffed in the center, and little moving letters advertising CSI at the bottom during the entire episode. They say, the show is not cutting edge.

Cutting edge? Have we forgotten what cutting edge really means? Are we SO confused by the influx of revealing attire, big ass weaves, high-end makeup and plastic surgery, reality-TV-esque fighting, people eating grilled rat and caged with meal worms, film-noiresque scenes of how bodies deteriorate after sitting in the sun for months, and crude humor to actually remember what cutting edge TRULY means? Or is the show disqualified from being considered cutting edge because it’s in Africa? Because it’s actually scripted (in another dialect, another culture, and damn near another language, at that)? Or because there’s nothing but beautifully sun-kissed Black faces grazing the screen? Or… let’s go a step further - because there are nothing but beautifully sun-kissed Black faces living LIKE NORMAL PEOPLE on the screen?

See, that’s the kind of shit that worries me about the reviews of Agency. I can’t help but wonder if the show speaks to a certain part of certain people in our society who don’t understand the concept of colored people living like everyone else, regardless of culture. I can’t help but question if the lack of prostitute makeup and scantily clad women forces the show to lose points from those critics who like to see, well, hoes integrated into the “normal society” that most of these shows create for themselves. I also can’t help but wonder if the show showing a backdrop of a peaceful, serene, and even honest Africa makes it hard for those who demonize the area and its people to take it seriously or write it off as blatant fantasy.

Which brings me to the understanding of cutting edge that EYE have, and that EYE will be teaching my child. To think in terms of etymology, the cutting edge is the part that… well, does the cutting. It’s what slices in half whatever barriers is in the way. It’s what is breaking through whatever is in the way only for the rest to follow - stereotypes, stagnancy, and stupidity be damned - like a pair of scissors. It’d get nowhere without the cutting edge. To put a show with only faces of color in a backdrop of Africa with an intelligent full-figured woman as the lead AND make the shit stunningly interesting? Superficiality aside, the mysteries are intriguing enough to actually be realistic stories! On some “I’ve got you, in the hospital, with an extension cord” type shit? Oh, sign me up. Bringing to light countless concepts that American TV NEVER gets to see, and bringing them to light together? Sorry, that’s cutting edge even though your preconceived notions prevent you from admitting such.

The true meaning of “cutting edge” loses it’s definition, it’s meaning, its principle when it becomes predictable. When a critic can tell you in no implicit terms what IS cutting edge - which, mind you, is mad different from telling you what is NOT - then American TV altogether is in MAJOR trouble. Cutting edge is not getting contestants to dangle from their left ankle as opposed to their right, GAUNTLET. Cutting edge is not having the cast date each other in the beginning before realizing that idea sucks and splitting them up, BIG BROTHER. Cutting edge is not turning a hospital into a whorehouse, GREY’S ANATOMY. Cutting edge is… something new, something fresh, something you’ve never seen before. It doesn’t have to leave you twisted and broken inside to be considered cutting edge. It doesn’t have to gross you out to your soul to be cutting edge. It doesn’t have to leave you horny to be cutting edge.

Just because Agency doesn’t insist on making you squirm - in a good or bad way; just because Agency doesn’t have a fucked up ending; and just because Agency doesn’t have some hoes in this house, doesn’t mean the show must be counted out and shipped over to some sorry network. It may leave you a little uncomfortable or confused, but discomfort is occasionally a good thing. Let your cage get rattled a bit. Take in some new scenery, enjoy the cheerful dialogue, and appreciate the fact that a full-figured Black woman who enjoys giving back to children is being highlighted on a channel that people PAY to watch. HBO knows what it’s doing, and it’s the reason I keep paying them my hard earned money.