Alessandro Nivola as Bert Schneider: The film and television producer. He and his business partner Steve Blauner hid Newton due to him being convicted of murder and assault.
Tiffany Boone as Gwen Fontaine: The wife of Huey P. Newton who is a party member.
P. J. Byrne as Stephen Blauner: Bert's business partner and childhood friend. He and Bert helped and collaborate with Huey on a series of wild schemes.
Marc Menchaca as Sydney Clark: An FBI agent dressed as a hippie who never gives up interrogating the organization, family members and anybody related to Huey.
Huey P. Newton, who co-founded the Black Panther Party in 1966, was convicted of allegedly murdering a police officer in 1968, but was released around two years later, was again targeted by the FBI in 1974 for a deadly violent crime. On his escape from the investigators, the African-American activist turns to Hollywood producer Bert Schneider, who has supported him and his movement for some time. Huey and his partner Gwen Fontaine find shelter with Schneider's business partner Steve Blauner for the time being. Since the search pressure is constantly increasing, Huey decides to flee to Cuba.
Preparations for a crazy escape plan begin. Under the pretense of making a film called "The Big Cigar", Bert wants to smuggle his friend Huey to Cuba. Steve is skeptical about the risky venture. Not least because he fears for his existence. It soon becomes apparent that not all of the people involved are reliable. Flashbacks illuminate the disputes within the Black Panther Party, which primarily revolve around the question of the use of weapons.
3
"Guns & Matzah"
Damon Thomas
Laurence Andries & Gwendolyn M. Parker
May 24, 2024 (2024-05-24)
After the pilot they bought fails, Bert and Huey come up with a new plan. The FBI is closing in on the Black Panther Party co-founder. Schneider approaches his brother Stanley, who runs Columbia Pictures, with a request. There's a fight between Bert and Steve. In a diner, the complications take a bloody course. Flashbacks reveal Huey's growing paranoia.
4
"What Are Friends For?"
Damon Thomas
Janine Sherman Barrois & Jim Hecht
May 31, 2024 (2024-05-31)
After the diner shooting, Bert fears the worst, but is relieved when things turn out a little differently. The excitement does not bode well for the plan to take Huey to Cuba from Los Angeles on a private plane. Because the FBI in the form of Agent Sydney Clark comes to the correct conclusions he is now more vigilant than ever. When Schneider loses focus while searching for a getaway car, Steve makes an unexpected decision. A year earlier, Huey let his friend and party co-founder Bobby Seale know what he thought of his political ambitions.
5
"Lost Paradise"
Tiffany Johnson
Laurence Andries & Valerie Woods & Ameer Hasan
June 7, 2024 (2024-06-07)
After he and Steve escape to Mexico, Huey is supposed to hide in a port city for some time. Huey doesn't like this idea at all. The fear of being caught is omnipresent and devastating news doesn't take long to arrive. Bert struggles with feelings of guilt and is also visited by fate. Agent Clark goes his own way. Flashbacks reveal the background to Huey's escape from Oakland.
Huey, his partner Gwen Fontaine and Steve appear to be trapped, then the tide turns. Once again a plan has to be thrown overboard. Bert becomes more involved in the Black Panther Party co-founder's escape but is met with suspicion. With support, Agent Clark comes closer to his big goal. Will Huey still make it safely to the coast of Cuba? Series Finale.
On Variety, author Aramide Tinubu wrote that, "André Holland is stellar as Huey P. Newton, but 'The Big Cigar' never ignites".[25]
Judy Berman of Time Magazine gave a favorable review and wrote, "That Newton's wariness of mass culture frames the story from the very beginning is a sign that viewers are in for something much smarter, bolder, and more challenging than the entertainment industry's typical, sanitized take on radical politics".[26]
Elisa Guimaraes of Collider gave the series 3 out of 4 stars. She praised Holland for his depiction of Huey P. Newton.[27]
The Guardian writer Ellen E. Jones also gave the show 3 out of 5 star rating. She criticized "that Hollywood can't be trusted to tell the stories of Black radicals".[28]
Richard Roeper from the Chicago Sun-Times wrote a favorable review about the actor André Holland stating that he "does a brilliant job of capturing the complicated and charismatic Black Panthers co-founder".[29]
Nadir Samara from Screen Rant gave the series a average review of a 3 out of 5 stars, stating that the series is decent but criticized the script due to it being "all over the place, neither the story nor the performance hit their peaks".[30]
Rory Doherty from Paste Magazine wrote that the series "is a slick caper that only superficially grasps its history lesson".[31]
On Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 61 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[32]
On review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 72% with an average rating of 6.5/10, based on 29 reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "A magnetic performance from André Holland gets The Big Cigar close to lighting up, but a lack of narrative focus slightly dampens the spark."[33]
Notes
^Sources differ regarding the country or countries of origin. Some indicate that the United States is the sole country of origin, while others list it as a co-production of the United States and Canada.[3][4]
