Taboo: Tom Hardy's historical drama (BBC1/FX) [spoilers]

[AncalagonTheBlack]

2 minutes ago, mormont said:

Do you mean Brace, or Zilpha's butler?

If there is a duel. I may be misremembering, but I'm fairly sure duelling is technically illegal in Britain at this time. The law was usually ignored, particularly if the duellists were well connected, but of course it's the kind of thing that would give the Crown a pretext to arrest James even if he won. So he might duck out. It's not as if he's bothered about his honour.

 

Yup,i meant Brace.

C'mon man,i want to see a duel and that fop of an abusive husband torn to shreds!!

[polishgenius]

You know what, I'm gonna give it to the end of the season, but this show isn't very good.

[Philokles]

1 hour ago, mormont said:

If there is a duel. I may be misremembering, but I'm fairly sure duelling is technically illegal in Britain at this time. The law was usually ignored, particularly if the duellists were well connected, but of course it's the kind of thing that would give the Crown a pretext to arrest James even if he won. So he might duck out. It's not as if he's bothered about his honour.

The trailer for next week shows...

Spoiler

the duel's organiser demanding it to be to first blood, but Thorne insisting to the death. So you are probably right about that there will be consequences. But it does seem like James is going ahead with it.

 

[Ser Quork]

We found last night's episode a bit of a drag, to be honest  If it doesn't pick up by next week, we'll probably knock it on the head.  It started well but it's just too slow getting anywhere.  Episode four and we should really be picking up a strong narrative, but it's still all broody walks and violence, wallowing in some threatened sexual violence and dream sex (seriously?).  And as for the ridiculous caricature of the abusive husband that we're all supposed to hate for the sole purpose of cheering when he is undoubtedly killed (violently), it's just feeling like style over substance for me.

[Theda Baratheon]

Only two episodes in thus far. Very dark, intriguing, but still not gripped yet. Look forward to it building up to something.

[red snow]

3 hours ago, AncalagonTheBlack said:

SPOILERS FOR EP. 4

 

This for me was the best episode so far.So we now know that the 'Countess' is Carlsbad.Wonder how the Americans found out about James and the half-sister.Could it be that the butler is working for them? Surely he could be one of the very few people who would know.Not good for James since the Americans will clearly use this for leverage against him.

 

It could just be the husband given his drunken outbursts. Maybe the americans have a mystic of their own - otherwise they were tipping their hand telling James they know more than he realises.

3 hours ago, mormont said:

 

If there is a duel. I may be misremembering, but I'm fairly sure duelling is technically illegal in Britain at this time. The law was usually ignored, particularly if the duellists were well connected, but of course it's the kind of thing that would give the Crown a pretext to arrest James even if he won. So he might duck out. It's not as if he's bothered about his honour.

 

It would be more of a surprise for him not to take him up on the duel at this point - otherwise things are falling into his lap too easily. Then again he seems to have Kellhus level foresight so he's probably 3 steps ahead of any counter moves. Which could get tired very quickly.

[red snow]

2 hours ago, Ser Quork said:

We found last night's episode a bit of a drag, to be honest  If it doesn't pick up by next week, we'll probably knock it on the head.  It started well but it's just too slow getting anywhere.  Episode four and we should really be picking up a strong narrative, but it's still all broody walks and violence, wallowing in some threatened sexual violence and dream sex (seriously?).  And as for the ridiculous caricature of the abusive husband that we're all supposed to hate for the sole purpose of cheering when he is undoubtedly killed (violently), it's just feeling like style over substance for me.

There's substance there but it's largely in the form of exposition.

1 hour ago, Theda Baratheon said:

Only two episodes in thus far. Very dark, intriguing, but still not gripped yet. Look forward to it building up to something.

The pace hasn't really picked up by episode 4 at least.

I think if Tom Hardy walking around in a hat or sitting in rooms with no trousers on isn't keepng you on board then it could be hard going I guess that could also be considered style over substance?

[HexMachina]

Inrealised the Countess was Carlsbad before the reveal. Was hoping it wouldn't be explicitly stated this episode so I could come crowing in here all smug. Oh well.  

There are plenty of ways The Americans could have found out about James and Zilpha. A few examples; Brace, someone saw them at the Church, someone read the letters they have been sending, Zilpha's servant, the husband said something to someone (while drunk, maybe), James said something while he was delirious and getting stitched up. 

I had assumed for the last couple of episodes the supernatural stuff was going to be more explicitly "a thing." Good to know one way or the other. Spirit sex! :lol2: 

Not quite sure why Lorna refused the Crown's offer. I suppose it says something about her character, that she won't give in to pressure when she is treated like that. And also it's probably likely she realises she isn't just an inconvenience once they have what they want and can be swiftly removed. So maybe it does make sense.

I'm still enjoying this. I suspect I've been enjoying it more than most here from the start, since I've never taken issue with pacing so far. Something about it just appeals to me. And that something is not just, as red snow says, Tom Hardy sitting around with no trousers on  

[red snow]

Also, by this point, I think Jonathan Pryce has clearly been jealous of all the swearing everyone else got to do on GOT but he couldn't because he was a saintly character. He's certainly making up for lost time.

[Astromech]

Decent episode, however I'm much more interested in Nootka and the war than in James and Zilpha, so would prefer more focus on the former than the latter. It was a step in the right direction this episode to further the plot I'm interested in. But it is still more style over substance. Love the style, but needs more substance.

Yes the duel proposition cliffhanger was pointless when next week's preview shows them dueling.

And fuck off with all the damn commercial breaks. There is one after nearly every scene for us viewers in the States.

[polishgenius]

On 29/01/2017 at 10:55 PM, HelenaExMachina said:

Inrealised the Countess was Carlsbad before the reveal. Was hoping it wouldn't be explicitly stated this episode so I could come crowing in here all smug. Oh well.

 

 

I was honestly surprised it was played as some kind of shock. It seemed blatant. That seems to be one of the problems this show has so far for me- so far, when it's made revelations, they've either been so obvious that there's no actual revelation, or they've been so badly built up to that the supposed revelation doesn't really mean anything. This particular one managed to be both. There'd been afaik no clues that such a countess even existed and she certainly had no connection to James, but the moment he was invited to a party by a woman and the Americans said to attend, it was like 'duh, she's Carlsbad'. Like, when she yanked him into that cupboard and made him offers, how did she not think he was going to guess who she is?

I will be pleasantly surprised if this is a bluff and she turns out not to be Carlsbad after all. Maybe it'll be Winter.

[Philokles]

It was a rather obvious reveal, and rushed - with the character's introduction, American invitation and reveal all in the same episode. I especially didn't like that given the mystery had been open for a week, but with no possibility for the viewers to work it out.

Maybe Carlsbad is actually Zilpha. That's how the Americans know about their relationship. She's been deliberately increasing the tension between Thorne and James to get rid of them both in the duel.

[red snow]

2 hours ago, Astromech said:

Decent episode, however I'm much more interested in Nootka and the war than in James and Zilpha, so would prefer more focus on the former than the latter. It was a step in the right direction this episode to further the plot I'm interested in. But it is still more style over substance. Love the style, but needs more substance.

Yes the duel proposition cliffhanger was pointless when next week's preview shows them dueling.

And fuck off with all the damn commercial breaks. There is one after nearly every scene for us viewers in the States.

How long is an episode in the states? I think it's a 1 hour slot in UK without ads so it must be 1hr 15+ slut with all the ads?

The weird thing with the incestuous relationship is that if they are related, why are we supposed to be rooting for them (that's the impression I get)? Shouldn't we also be repulsed by this? But they seem to play it as if the viewers should be fine with it. Maybe they've been watching too much of "the Flash"? It's why i still suspect they aren't as related as we are led to believe. Otherwise it's a bit icky.

[Astromech]

The episodes are about 1hr 30mins in the US, so 30 mins worth of commercials. Fortunately I'm able to dvr it and fast forward through commercials, but it's still quite annoying.

James and Zilpha's relationship is one of the least interesting aspects of the show. Unfortunately, James past seems to be inextricably linked with Zilpha and their relationship. What's worse is Thorne's obsession with and fetish over this relationship. Him walking in on her dream orgasm was almost as odd as James and the chemist discussing ejaculating.

 

[Martini Sigil]

I thought this was the best episode so far.... TH took a brutal head shot... the Carlsbad reveal.... Pryce had limited screen time, but he was awesome... the whole story moved forward nicely

[Martell Spy]

 

Quote

 

I thought this was the best episode so far.... TH took a brutal head shot... the Carlsbad reveal.... Pryce had limited screen time, but he was awesome... the whole story moved forward nicely

 

Yeah I've liked every episode, but for some reason this one really worked for me. Despite not much happening, it felt like things were moving forward as I was watching it. The whole abduction scene was really gripping.

I think the relationship is supposed to seem icky. Look at the title of the show. I'm not sure rooting for anyone is the point of this show. The only person I'm really rooting for is the butler. It's kinda the anti hero thing, where his opponents are even more vile seeming than him. I kind of like the American faction though, but that could be American bias. James basically says everyone around him is disposable. It's not the most sympathetic stance to take

Strangely, I care little about the duel. I think the best parts of this show are the ongoing game between the Crown, the Company, the Americans, and James. Some of the action is great too though, just because it's carried out so well, so perhaps I will enjoy the duel. Only really care about the relationship between James and the sister as far as it relates to the supernatural goings on.

[Isis]

Have to say I'm getting a teensy bit bored at this point. I'm not really into films or TV shows which feature gratuitous sex scenes. But so long as they tell you something about a character then I would probably not call them gratuitous. In this episode, did we REALLY need to see the chemist guy fucking someone when James goes to talk to him - on top of the dream sex stuff (which it is pretty hard not to laugh at)?

I did quite like the party scene with all these rich people making idiots of themselves. But, I just wish it was all a bit less ponderous!

[mormont]

23 minutes ago, Isis said:

Have to say I'm getting a teensy bit bored at this point. I'm not really into films or TV shows which feature gratuitous sex scenes. But so long as they tell you something about a character then I would probably not call them gratuitous. In this episode, did we REALLY need to see the chemist guy fucking someone when James goes to talk to him - on top of the dream sex stuff (which it is pretty hard not to laugh at)?

It did get a laugh in our house at least. 'I have a question about chemistry'.

But yeah, the dream-sex scene was just a case of 'what can we get away with?'

[red snow]

42 minutes ago, mormont said:

It did get a laugh in our house at least. 'I have a question about chemistry'.

But yeah, the dream-sex scene was just a case of 'what can we get away with?'

While played mainly for laughs it did help establish the chemist as a cheat and someone who uses his celebrity. I'm not sure how scandalous this behaviour was at the time (some context as to whether he was married would have helped). But I wouldn't say it was all that gratuitous but maybe I've just been desensitized by HBO?

The dream sex-scene was silly although I don't think it was intended. And again it's super weird if this an incestuos relationship. I don't think it really added anything new in terms of character but it was the strongest indication yet of there being real magic at play.

8 hours ago, Astromech said:

The episodes are about 1hr 30mins in the US, so 30 mins worth of commercials. Fortunately I'm able to dvr it and fast forward through commercials, but it's still quite annoying.

James and Zilpha's relationship is one of the least interesting aspects of the show. Unfortunately, James past seems to be inextricably linked with Zilpha and their relationship. What's worse is Thorne's obsession with and fetish over this relationship. Him walking in on her dream orgasm was almost as odd as James and the chemist discussing ejaculating.

 

so half of the airtime for the episode is advertising? What a joke - especially with a show as slow as this one. I think I'd lose attention. If that's typical of ads in the states no wonder netflix and recorded TV is so popular. Although I guess your ads are subsidising our TV licenses when it comes to this show.

[Isis]

1 hour ago, red snow said:

While played mainly for laughs it did help establish the chemist as a cheat and someone who uses his celebrity. I'm not sure how scandalous this behaviour was at the time (some context as to whether he was married would have helped). But I wouldn't say it was all that gratuitous but maybe I've just been desensitized by HBO?

The dream sex-scene was silly although I don't think it was intended. And again it's super weird if this an incestuos relationship. I don't think it really added anything new in terms of character but it was the strongest indication yet of there being real magic at play.

so half of the airtime for the episode is advertising? What a joke - especially with a show as slow as this one. I think I'd lose attention. If that's typical of ads in the states no wonder netflix and recorded TV is so popular. Although I guess your ads are subsidising our TV licenses when it comes to this show.

It was a pile-on effect for me in that episode; lots of smut, not enough effective storytelling. That's when it becomes noticable. Make the balance better and maybe I will notice it less. It is not about any sort of puritanism on my part - it's just the lazy writing that gets on my tits.

Also: YAY for the BBC, the one really good thing about them is the lack of ads!