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

[Which Tyler]

I think she was worse here than GOT purely because she has more screen time here.

She wasn't great in Black Mirror either.

[HexMachina]

Yeah she wasn't great in Thrones either. Don't think it can be just chalked up to the writing though, all her acting seems to be just wide-eyed staring. I thought she was ok in the first episode but she went downhill from there.

 

eta: damn, Lorna was in War and Peace wasn't she? I knew I recognised her

[red snow]

Damn, I had a fairly long post on the last two episodes but the site went down for a few hours this morning. In Summary

Oona Chaplin's wide-eyed stare and the character's lack of definition (she started the show in control of the men around around her and quickly became their victim/lost any sense of power) make for a bad combo.

Grimcamp is a great tag for the show. Godfrey blatantly running to Delaney's house every time there is a development is hilarious in the lack of subterfuge and MP running upstairs every few minutes to update the globe-spinning regent on the lack of torture progress was like a Python sketch. There are so many times this could actualy be a parody that was too close to the edge of being serious.

The show has been a curious adventure for me - I love the visuals, mood and music but the repetitiveness and general lack of pace are frustrating. I'm done with the show after this series' conclusion. There's simply too many great shows to watch for me to waste time on an uneven one. If there's ever a period of bad TV over the next decade I at least know there's a ton of stuff I can catch up on that will be acceptable when not facing such tough competition

[Jon's Queen Consort]

On 22/2/2017 at 1:31 PM, mormont said:

I had the impression James was deflecting her because he knew he'd be arrested for treason and didn't want her dragged into it as a potential point of weakness.

This is the most logical explanation or it could be that he just got over it once he got what he wanted. Many people might want something or someone like crazy but once they have it, him or her they lose their interest, its quite common.

[dbunting]

I have use for you

[Zorral]

This might be of interest for people who like this show:

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/feb/23/naysayers-be-damned-tom-hardys-taboo-is-a-work-of-wicker-man-genius

 

[red snow]

5 hours ago, Zorral said:

This might be of interest for people who like this show:

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/feb/23/naysayers-be-damned-tom-hardys-taboo-is-a-work-of-wicker-man-genius

 

It does a good job of nailing why I've found myself intrigued through most of the show despite the other obvious flaws. I think it's definitely one of those shows where people will look back and point to it as one of Hardy's iconic performances. Up there with Bane (which is underated largely because of the joker/film) and his Bronson performance (where i think he picked up quite a few of Refn's ticks when it came to making Taboo).

[Isis]

Interesting. I mentioned Heathcliff earlier in the thread. Nobody does brooding quite like Heathcliff. But the comparisons to Richard Burton and Oliver Reed are thought-provoking. I watched a documentary about filming with Oliver Reed not that long ago and it looked like he was the epitome of chaos, to be around. Yes, that's an interesting pair of actors to compare Hardy to. 

I don't feel it has all that much in common with The Wicker man actually, because that film pairs constant weird unease with pastoral village life. It's terrifying. Taboo shows us lots of familiar, normal scenes and if it's meant to be terrifying, it fails. 

Although, thinking about Ken Russell's work I suppose the exorcism scene is right up his street.

Finally, thank God it's not as meandering as A Field in England. I rate Ben Wheatley highly, but that is a hard film to sit through.

 

[Ramsay B.]

49 minutes ago, Isis said:

Finally, thank God it's not as meandering as A Field in England. I rate Ben Wheatley highly, but that is a hard film to sit through.

 

Ha, agree. I've been meaning to rewatch that for ages but just can't bring myself to do it. 

[Isis]

I think once was enough!

[Which Tyler]

Shit went down then

Spoiler

I really hate plans going "like clockwork"

 

[HexMachina]

Huh. Well. There was a lot went on in the episode

I don't fully understand why James was released. Maybe I'm missing something obvious but I thought all he did was say nope, not gonna testify. And then he was released.

Looks like people were right about Zilpha last week, in that he wanted to distance her from him. And then she killed herself leaving him saddened and guilty. Hmm, nice touch, but in a show plagued with pacing problems she really should just have been cut from the get go. Nothing significantly changes without her inclusion.

I liked the bit with Dumbarton having been a traitor. In hindsight it was suggested several episodes ago that he may not have been 100% honest about his American allegiances.

Lorna identifying herself as James' mother was a nice touch though there is something jarring about 28 year olde Jessie Buckley being Tom Hardy's mother (yes I know, step mother, she can easily be younger, it's just strange hearing "mother" then seeing them side by side). 

Helga  Damn, I'm sad she was killed. I really liked her, both the character and actress. 

Chomndley well presumably die of his injuries too. Godfrey comforting him was lovely though.

Poor Brace

 

[Jon's Queen Consort]

I just read on Wikipedia, so I don't know how reliable it could be, that there are going to be two more series. 

[Jon's Queen Consort]

3 minutes ago, Triskan said:

Meaning two more seasons of this same story or two more seasons that separate like an anthology?  Or do you mean something else when you say "two more series?"

To quote the wikipedia page;

Quote

 Two more series are planned.^{[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taboo_(2017_TV_series)}

 

[Philokles]

34 minutes ago, HelenaExMachina said:

Huh. Well. There was a lot went on in the episode

 

  Hide contents

I don't fully understand why James was released. Maybe I'm missing something obvious but I thought all he did was say nope, not gonna testify. And then he was released.

Looks like people were right about Zilpha last week, in that he wanted to distance her from him. And then she killed herself leaving him saddened and guilty. Hmm, nice touch, but in a show plagued with pacing problems she really should just have been cut from the get go. Nothing significantly changes without her inclusion.

I liked the bit with Dumbarton having been a traitor. In hindsight it was suggested several episodes ago that he may not have been 100% honest about his American allegiances.

Lorna identifying herself as James' mother was a nice touch though there is something jarring about 28 year olde Jessie Buckley being Tom Hardy's mother (yes I know, step mother, she can easily be younger, it's just strange hearing "mother" then seeing them side by side). 

Helga  Damn, I'm sad she was killed. I really liked her, both the character and actress. 

Chomndley well presumably die of his injuries too. Godfrey comforting him was lovely though.

Poor Brace

 

Spoiler

He was released on the orders of Sir Stuart Strange, as it was the EIC who had arrested him in the first place. Given that they held all the evidence there was not much the crown could do (beyond ordering his extra-judicial killing).

 

 

The scene where Lorna found James with the letter seemed a rather obvious set up for the next series - hinting that it will be set in America and focus more on the supernatural.

[HexMachina]

31 minutes ago, Jon's Queen Consort said:

To quote the wikipedia page;

 

Just follow the citation to here: http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2017-02-25/taboo-writer-steven-knight-plans-at-least-two-more-series-of-the-bbc1-drama

Two more series planned, not given the go ahead

[HexMachina]

To add to the above, BBC say there hasn't been a decision as to whether to greenlight a second season yet: http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2017-02-25/will-there-be-a-second-series-of-tom-hardy-drama-taboo

[red snow]

Well they certainly packed a lot into the final episode - it would have been better to spread it a bit more evenly. I'll put in spoilers to benefit the americans.

so everything turned out quite neatly in the end even though it's tricky to fathom how he planned it all. The neatest thing was the death of any notable actors who may not want or be affordable for a second season.

I like how Delaney's boy's (who I don't think was ever officially confirmed by Delaney as his son) role was as a mobile phone/text stand-in but it added to the show's love of people walking fast or running around the set. Usually it's hat-hardy but Godfrey was becoming good at it too.

I liked the "we are americans" twist to the explosives and it was also fun to see they aren't going to nookta but are on a diversion.

The deaths in the episode did highlight one problem with the show which was I didn't really care that much about any of them. Now that might largely be due to them sparing the characters i liked the most but even Tom Hollander's character, while fun was a bit cold in having a connection with anyone. The "boy" came closest yet wasn't with him at the end.

Then there's Zilpha. To hammer home just how pointless she was she dies at the start of the episode and we are left thinking "why bother with her at all". It's sort of hard to get behind the "lovers separated by incest" plot and I was truly left cold by her death and Delaney's response. It left me with the feeling that the plot could have done with some serious editing as overall it felt like it wasn't a case of things being stretched thin but rather a large blank canvas (of people walking/running/riding through london) with islands of story/ideas.

Then there's the magic which the show seemed to completely forget about by episode 4 (I guess he papa lazaroo'd himself into a death coma?) and never shone any light on at all. Was it all just in his imagination or did the writers grow shy of the concept? As it is it wound up too subtle (unless having sister-sex by dream) to the point it didn't add anything to the story or show. Which seemed like a missed opportunity as that aspect initially helped the show stand out.

It was certainly different and I guess I can applaud that.

[Jon's Queen Consort]

11 hours ago, HelenaExMachina said:

Just follow the citation to here: http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2017-02-25/taboo-writer-steven-knight-plans-at-least-two-more-series-of-the-bbc1-drama

Two more series planned, not given the go ahead

My mistake. I should had said planned instead of going to be.

[mormont]

I don't agree that 'nothing changes' in the absence of Zilpha. A sub-plot can often be removed without affecting the main plot, but plot is not all there is (particularly in this series). Zilpha and the incestuous relationship are important for several reasons. One, it provides tension conflict in some of the earlier episodes. Two, it humanises James a bit for the viewer. Zilpha is something that James wants, and it's something we can all understand - a forbidden romantic desire. Without that, we're left solely with Nootka as a motivating force, and there his motivations are murkier, a mix of revenge on the EIC, his feelings about his father and mother and their relationship, and maybe personal ambition.

Also, it's always possible that James is right and she really is not gone. That'd be a twist, but one that might be foreshadowed. James has survived drowning, after all, and the supernatural imagery we've seen mostly revolves around the river (that, and ashes).