Last night, the first episode of Taboo aired on FX.
I thought it was beautifully shot, and Tom Hardy in the lead roll was fantastic as usual. Looking forward to following this one going forward. I did have a little trouble understanding the thick English accents in a couple of spots, but I actually watched most of the episode again as it re-aired directly after the premier and caught everything I missed.
I particularly liked the scene towards the end of the episode at the East India Co., incredibly tense!! I especially liked
how a couple of the East India men exhaled and kind of laughed/smiled nervously after Delaney walked out, as if to say “Holy Shit, that was intense!”
To be fair (again without having watched it), it’s the first episode of eight, so not much can be expected to have happened. Plus the first episode of any show has to set things up, introducing the characters and the situation.
That’s how I’ve described it to others: a lot of setting-up, and it feels like the payoff is going to be huge, but very little actually happened. Well, apart from finding out what the show’s title is referring to.
I was pretty bored and ready to say “well, that’s it for me” until the final scene with the East India company reps that OP mentioned. That was a good intense scene, and also finally laid out what to expect for the plot (varying factions jockeying for control of the land left to him by his father). The fact that its designed as a 10-episode, one-off miniseries also makes me more interested in following it (knowing it won’t drag out the plot to get more seasons as so many American shows do).
We watched it last night, courtesy of On Demand. My husband disagreed with me on what the taboo is. I’m pretty sure I’m right, but I guess we’ll see… or will we? But thank goodness for On Demand - I go to bed at 9 so I can get up at 5 for work - OD is the only way I can see a lot of shows.
My only problem was how dark, literally, it was at times. Or maybe it was our TV or my old eyes. A few times, I felt like I was looking at a black screen.
Weren’t we were told of one taboo that was violated; that the main character is the son of an Englishman and a Native American/First Nations woman? But perhaps at the time, it was expected that an English gentleman who was overseas for an extended period might have a native mistress.
But in the letter from his sister at the end, she said she hoped he wouldn’t mention whatever happened ten years previously. And at another point, he spied on a young boy, presumably his son. So are he and his half-sister the boy’s biological parents?
Oooooh, I really liked it!! It has the look and feel of Rome (including one of the major characters), which I guess is part of its BBC heritage. And I love that it’s only 8 episodes so the writers aren’t so tempted to get sloppy. Only watched the first episode last night, but looking forward to catching up over the weekend.
Yes, I’m not sure who else I can picture playing Delaney. It’s almost scenery chewing yet Hardy pulls it off very well. I didn’t care for Oona Chaplin but she’s starting to grow on me.
