Taboo brings together many talented actors of the big and small screen tells a tale of gothic horror set in early nineteenth century London. For those saddened by the demise of the “Penny Dreadful” series on Showtime, this creepy series may help fill the niche for strange and weird television. The show stars Tom Hardy as the prodigal son, “back from the dead” who returns to London after the passing of his highly eccentric father. Onna Chaplin, (Game of Thrones and Charlie Chaplin’s grand-daughter) co-stars as his half-sister Zilpha. Christopher Pryce (Game of Thrones) appears as Sir Stuart Strange, the president of the British East India Company and Franka Potente (Run Lola Run, and The Bridge) appears as a colorful prostitute.
The cinematography is beautiful throughout this episode. The opening scene is of a man being rowed by a tender to the rugged shoreline. He appears in dark, hooded oilskin. Once the man reaches the shore, he pauses to dig in the mud. It is unclear whether he is digging something up or burying an object. He then leaves on a white horse to a large city visible in the distance.
In a tomb-like room, a corpse is laid out with coins over each eye. (To pay the ferryman over the river Styx.) The hooded man enters the room and looks at the body. He removes the coins from the eyelids and mutters an incantation in an unknown language. Finally he says out loud, “Forgive me father, for I have indeed sinned!”
The title sequence is shown, it contains of montage of bodies floating through dark water. A slow ominous music box tune accompanies the swirl of bodies, including chained slaves and a torn early American flag.
London, 1814. Gritty daily life occurs on the docks. From this scene a funeral procession marches past with a man announcing, “Behold, a good man!” Behind the carriage containing the coffin, a woman rides wearing a black veil over her face. When she is seated inside a church, a man asks whether they would like to pay an extra few shillings to ensure her father is buried deeper, to prevent grave robbers. The woman’s husband is dismissive of this concern.
The tall man enters the church and murmurs erupt, “There walks a dead man!” The woman gasps, recognizing him, “James Keziah Delaney, my brother!” James deposits the coins absconded from his father’s eyes and deposits them into the church’s coffers. The funeral starts. The procession follows the deceased to the churchyard for burial. The priest proclaims, “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust…” Meanwhile, James can be heard muttering a prayer of his own in an unfamiliar language. He rubs a red dye on the right side of his face. The other attendees observe his behavior with alarm.
After the service, James, and his brother-in-law quibble about the depth of the grave. James’s sister Zilpha states, “He is buried to the depth of my love. In the last years, he disgraced me!”
At the wake guests whisper about James’s returning from Africa and discuss wild rumors about his conduct there. They, (Nicolas Woodsen, Poirot Mysteries) the lawyer of the estate leaves the gathering to look for James under the guise of using the outdoor facilities. James follows the older man out to the privy; a man butchers large quantities of meat nearby. After the old man leaves the privy he asks James how he knew his father was dead. James replies, “I heard he was sick and got on a ship.” Thoyt describes how his father would light fires and call out for James. James claims to have “heard him calling.” Thoyt explains that James is the heir to his father’s land, held in a treaty by the Nooka tribe. Thoyt notes the land is a “wasteland of rocks and Indians.” The lawyer offers to “relieve him of this asset” and promises to send a detailed proposal. James turns away stating, “They’re my rocks now.”
The wake attendees have grown loud, eating meat and kissing. Zilpha’s husband complains that whores have descended on the gathering to prey upon the older men. James decides to leave, telling his sister, “I still love you, if you need me, I’m here.” James departs.
Men have gathered at the East India Company to read the will. Sir Stuart Strange begins, “May Delaney rot in Hell!” The gathered men laugh. Thoyt addresses them, noting that Delaney’s son James has returned from Africa. The men review James’s history; he was a cadet then soldier for the East India Company until about ten years ago. He had started out a good soldier but developed behavioral problems, including attacking officers and committing arson. His fellow soldiers documented that James began to talk about seeking treasure and fortune and in 1802, he left for Africa.
Sir Strange notes that Delaney left his son everything and that their “delicate negotiations” with his sister have been in vain. One man suggests they burn the will but it is noted that James would still be the heir, “according to our law and God’s law.” The boat James purportedly sailed to Africa on had sunk so he had been presumed dead. The men discuss the rumors that James engaged in “awful and unnatural acts” while in Africa. They are unwilling to share the details with Sir Strange.
James wanders the docks followed by a large dog. After dark, James travels to a large home where he opens the door with a skeleton key. James uses a lantern to navigate the large dusty home. He gazes a portrait, presumably of his father. The eyes look startlingly lifelike. A man calls out to him in the darkness. James embraces his old servant Brace. Brace offers James tea but the younger man requests the butler drink brandy with him. Brace expresses regret for missing the funeral. The butler chastises James for not writing his father, recounting how his father was mad with grief near the end of his life. They discuss the “gulls” looking to scavenge the deceased man’s wealth. James is aware of the situation, “I know what they want, a piece of land belonging to my mother’s tribe.” Brace is surprised that James knows the secret of his mother’s identity. James notes, “He bought her with gun powder and beads.” James says his mother’s name was Salish. Brace warns him that the owned land is cursed. James replies, “I’ve sworn to do foolish things.”
James continues to explore his father’s ledgers and logs by candlelight. He burns some parchment while gazing out the window into the mist. Suddenly, a woman dressed in black with painted white skin appears. She laughs at him before disappearing.
James continues to work when Brace brings him tea. He asks the servant about the other business logs his father had. The butler states his father burned them all in the later years. A note has arrived from Thoyt, offering to buy the Delaney shipping business. Brace notes that James’s father would send Thoyt horse droppings as a response to this request. James promptly burns the message, asking if a similar reply can be sent. James notes that there are thirty-two years left on their lease of the docks and he intends to go reclaim this part of the business.
James heads off to the busy docks and opens the door to a large warehouse with a key. Helga, an older rough looking prostitute opens the door. (Franka Potente) He remembers she was the one who took his virginity but that doesn’t warm him to her. She is using the warehouse as brothel and offers him half of their daily earnings plus “extras.” James wants her out, in two hours so that he can restore the shipping company’s offices. Helga tries to tempt James by offering him men or boys or certain “taboo” activities. James says he’ll kill them if they don’t vacate. Helga shouts at James, “I heard if I give you a girl, I’d never see her again!” James sneers, “You heard right!” He leaves, with a parting warning to “Be punctual!”
Zilpha looks out at the rain as she finishes her note in a sitting room. Her husband Thorne enters and reads the note. He insists she change the note to offer James fifty pounds to leave England or he’ll kill him. He explains to Zilpha that her brother is a “savage” (using a word I won’t quote here but begins with an ‘n’). Thorne rips up the original note and asks his wife to “try again and show disgust.”
James walks by the docks with a dog following him. An older man walks up to him surprised that the dog has taken a liking to James. He notes the wild dogs feed on the flesh of suicide victim’s form a nearby bridge. (Quite the visual.) The man is there to discuss the continued care of James’s son, noting he has never received money for taking the boy in ten years prior. James promises to deliver the money personally. The man, Ibbot, scoffs that James hasn’t even asked how the boy is fairing. James walks on.
Under the cover of darkness, gravediggers exhume a body. James’s father is taken back to a stone room filled with medical instruments. A young man takes a drink and introduces himself as a graduate of the Royal Academy of Surgeons. He describes the procedure he will perform, removing some of the stomach contents and testing them. As the surgeon begins to work, James has a flashback, seeing several corpses lined up in a morgue. He speaks to them, “I have no fear to feed you!” The body of chained African man rises from one of the tables. James speaks to him, “I have no guilt for you! Today I have work to do!” In the following moments the room is empty.
The surgeon lights the stomach contents on fire through an instrument. He places a glass near the flame and a film forms, confirming arsenic poisoning. The doctor notes that heavy doses of arsenic will cause madness. He deduces large quantities of the poison had been ingested. James threatens the surgeon to bury his father again and not use his body for other purposes. (Grave robbing was a huge business to provide cadavers for medical study.) The young surgeon asks if he wants “words to be said over the body” when returning it to the ground. James replies, “No, no one is listening.”
Zilpha works on needlepoint when Thorne returns from a meeting with the East India Company. The news is grime; due to James’s return they are to receive no inheritance. Zilpha laughs which agitates him further. “He should have stayed in the jungle!” Zilpha agrees, “He doesn’t belong in this world.”
James rides a horse to a mill in the country. He asks to see his son but stays at a safe distance while the youth shovels hay in the barn. James hands Ibbot an envelope of money, stating it is for the “past, present and future” of the boy’s life. He advises Ibbot to put some money aside “In case he grows up to be rash like me!” Leaving, he states he never wishes to see his son again.
James arrives to meet with members of the East India Company. James is introduced around, first to Mr. Pettifer, the chairman of the African desk than to Sir Strange, the head of the company. Mr. Pettifer begins by offering his condolences to James but James urges him to get to the point, the land. The members explain how the land has become a “point of contention” between the United States and Britain whom are currently at war. James is aware of the conflict and the secret peace talks under way in Ghent. The land is on the border, on Vancouver Island. James is well aware that this location is strategic as not only a border between two countries but as a “gateway to China.”
Sir Strange implores James to behave as a “loyal British subject” and sell his land to Britain. James is firm; the land is not for sale. James directs his ire at Strange, railing against the brutal tactics of rape and plunder practiced by the East India Company. A man named Wilton interjects that if they can’t appeal to his patriotism perhaps they can appeal to his greed. They present him with an envelope containing a “very generous offer.” Strange notes that James’s father was crazy but he has no such “excuse” to refuse them. James rise to leave, the envelope falls to the floor. James tells the men tersely, “Good day!”
Once Delaney has left, Strange instructs the men, “I tried to appeal to reason, he’s all yours now.” (Implying the next offer won’t be in an envelope. They will likely try to kill him.)
James returns home in the evening. He has received another letter from Zilpha, this time not filtered through her husband’s concerns. She implores him to keep their family secrets buried in a “deeper grave.”
It was a compelling first episode with hints of some brilliant performances by an all-star cast. Perhaps it is trying to capture viewers who’ve missed having the second half of American Horror Story in the early winter months. The season is only eight short episodes and I have no idea whether this will be a stand-alone season. There is potential to explore the darker side of colonization in a loosely historical context. I’m hoping for an interesting, abet disturbing journey.
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