Ty Watches "Taboo"

"Taboo" just finished its first season on FX. I have been very vocal about how much I anticipated this show. I loved how FX promoted the show. I loved how the commercials gave away nothing. I had no idea what the show was going to be about, and I liked it that way. I purposefully waited until now to write about the show because I wanted to fully experience it for myself before I wrote about it. Now, I am not going to spoil much, if anything, I know that binge watching is the new thing and "Taboo" is a perfect binge worthy show, but I do have some thoughts that I want to get out since the show finished its first season.

"Taboo" centers around a man named James Delaney(Tom Hardy) who has returned to his home in the UK after a trip to Africa. The people who know James Delaney assumed he died on this trip because of the stories that had made there way back to the UK. When he first arrives back home, the townspeople are shocked. Everyone has questions. Delaney has no time for answers. He is on a mission. First spoiler, his father has died, and Delaney is back to run the family business, which seems to involve some kind of shipping. The show takes place in the early 1800's by the way, hence the shipping company.

Anyway, we come to realize in the pilot that the entire Delaney family is mentally unstable. The mom, the dad and most definitely James Delaney. They are all very crazy. The mom is sent to an institution for all the horrible things she did when she was alive. The dad went madder and madder the older he got we were told. And when Delaney returns from Africa, he claims he can talk to the dead, he says, "They sing to me", and he has many hallucinations. The hallucination scenes are scary, but also very neat and interesting. He is also filled with many tribal tattoos.

We also come to find out that he has a half sister, same dad, different moms, that he is in love with. Her name is Zilpha Geary, excellently played by an unknown to me, Oona Chaplin. She too is in love with him, but after she assumed he died, she married a very mean and brutal man, Thorne Geary(Jefferson Hall). He is a dick head and he gets what he deserves. I'll leave it at that. The two of them love each other, but it is, so to say, taboo, and they do not end up together. Again, I do not want to spoil too much.

There are some other great supporting characters in this show as well. Delaney's butler is wonderfully played by David Hayman. His name is Brace, and while he is a very loyal worker to the Delaney family, he too has done some serious shit and has some dark secrets. We also meet Delaney's fathers second wife, Lorna Bow(Jessie Buckley), who is in it at first for the fortune, but later as a James Delaney supporter and helper. We also meet some prostitutes that may or may not have been some of his fathers clients.

Then we have the British Parliament. They are the baddest dudes in the whole series. The king is a disgusting, gout filled blob of a man. Everyone in this show is some form of filthy kind of monster, but the king takes the cake in looks and attitude. He is so gross. There's Solomon Coop(Jason Watkins), who is the king's right hand man, but he is a slime bag of epic proportions. Then there are the members of Parliament that are just as corrupt as any current politician we have in our government. Sir Stuart Strange(Johnathan Pryce) is a terrible, monstrous human being hell bent on money and killing people. Godfrey(Edward Hogg), the closeted note keeper for Parliament who is a male prostitute at night and Delaney spy on the side. John Pettifer(Richard Dixon) who is a corrupt underling of Strange's. Benjamin Wilton(Leo Bill) is another underling errand boy for Strange. Basically, all of Parliament is corrupt because Delaney owns a piece of land that they need to win the battle that they are in with the United States, but Delaney will not give it up. Watch the show to find out why he won't let go of this land.

Some other characters I really liked in the show include George Chichester(Lucian Msamati), the African American man that has climbed the ranks of government who works with Delaney for what is right. Cholmondeley(Tom Hollander), the chemist that makes gunpowder and just likes to have a good time that ends up helping Delaney out. Dumbarton(Michael Kelly), who is an American spy in the UK posing as a doctor and flag maker that meets a gruesome end. And Atticus(Stephen Graham), Delaney's former enemy turned adversary. There are so many more great characters, these are just the ones that stood out to me.

I enjoyed "Taboo" very much. At first glance I thought it might have been a little too much History Channel for me, but the way the story was told and how it unfolded had me rapt with attention. The show was violent and dark and sad and no one was the good guy. Sure, you root for some people, but in the long run, each and every character has way more flaws than not. The British Parliament is the "bad guy", but that is not to say that Delaney is the "good guy". He is very, very far from a good guy.

I highly recommend people watch "Taboo". It is a very interesting and unique take on some classic historical stories from the US and UK's past. I also recommend binge watching it. It is perfect for that type of viewing.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. If you have FX, you can get FX Now and binge all of "Taboo" right now. What are you waiting for? Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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