What is Even Happening on Taboo?
I’ll admit it. I thought Taboo was going to be good.
That’s not to say that it isn’t. The show has had its moments, and it definitely lives up to the “Tom Hardy being Tom Hardy” premise it looked to have from early ads, but the show — which debuted its third episode this past week — feels like it’s struggling and spinning its wheels. At this point I’m finding it difficult to care about what will happen in the next five episodes to warrant me watching it.
The premise, for those of you who haven’t seen it, is about…well, it’s kind of like…alright, I admit it. It’s vague. Hardy plays James Delaney, the son of a recently deceased (and supposedly mad) merchant, who has returned to London ten years after being presumed dead in Africa. Inheriting a strip of land on the west coast of North America, Delaney gets pulled into the machinations of the East India Trading Company, the British Government, and American agents in London, all of whom are looking to obtain ownership of Delaney’s inheritance before the border between Canada and America is fully drawn
To be fair, the show does work in certain areas. The set and costume design is marvelous, truly making the world feel grimy and cold, just like other period dramas like Peaky Blinders and Ripper Street. Add on a haunting opening credits sequence, with Hardy floating face down in water, and some great cinematography each episode, and Taboo stands as a visual spectacle for your eyes to behold.
But it’s still not enough when the story is as muddled as it is.
Hardy’s character is a walking enigma, in a way that makes it difficult for me to really care about him. He struts around the screen with a supposed grand plan up his sleeve, playing the British off of the Americans, but three ninety minutes episodes into this short season and we still don’t know what’s motivating him, or what he wants out of all of this. He’s clearly been influenced by his time in Africa, but the details of his ordeal have been kept away from us. He’s allying himself with old acquaintances, but we don’t know who among them we should trust, who we should be leery of, or if we should even trust anyone at this point. That’s not even mentioning the weird, incestuous relationship/flirtation he has with his now-married sister (Should we be rooting for this? Because it skeeves me out every time they’re on screen together). So far I don’t really find myself caring about Hardy pulling off his “plan”.
The show has also been pretty heavy on keeping viewers in the dark as to what is really going on. There have been plenty of references to Delany’s time in Africa and how he spent time with the natives there. But conflicting stories have made it difficult to parse out what that period of time entailed for him. Delaney also has been weaving conflicting stories of what he wants from his inherited land. Did his father really marry an actress while Delaney was away? Was Delaney really communicating with his father all the way from Africa through mystic rituals? What does his butler know about his parents’ lives? The show has constructed an obtuse world that doesn’t reveal enough of itself.
When push comes to shove though, I feel like this show would work better as a Netflix, quick binge type of series. If all eight episodes of Taboo had been released on a Friday and I could watch them all over the course of a weekend, I think it would be more compelling. Being able to go back and rewatch certain scenes, with more clarity from later episodes (what I’m assuming will be given), would work better than having to wait a week between each episode. Details are slowly starting to reveal themselves, and character moments — vague as they are — have begun to flesh out Delaney. So I can’t help but wonder what I’d think of Taboo if I could watch it all at once.
I’m going to keep on watching it though. Not because I think it’s particularly good, but because it’s only eight episodes long. Even with the extended run time, eight episodes isn’t much of a commitment. If it was thirteen or even twenty-two, we’d have a bigger issue. So for the next five weeks I’ll sit back and watch the visual spectacle unfold before me…and try not to nit-pick the flaws in the storytelling.
