First to say is that I think it's right to compare this show a bit with 'The Frankenstein Chronicles', which I will this later in this review.
'Taboo' is a complex story, interwoven with an at first seemingly simple setting. A presumed dead man returns home after his father had passed away. James Delaney is assumed an abuser of his sister, man-eater, ferocious killer, madman, and so on.
The show and the main characters do their best to paint this picture of Delaney, but while the story unfolds itself, it turns out that not everything is what it looks like.
I admit that for a long time I couldn't really connect with Delaney, the character is very repellent, at least in the beginning. He is not very sympathetic, too. But he is also interesting, because between all that mystery and 'being so dangerous' he is also deeply hurt and broken. The story of abuse and sexual relationship with his sister may have been true, or something that he desperately evaded by leaving the country then.
Compared to 'The Frankenstein Chronicles', Tom Hardy doesn't have the intensive presence of Sean Bean, but I'm sure he will one day, as he is much younger. Meanwhile, he does a very good job by being inscrutable and - strangely - lifelike, as his character Delaney would play simply himself after nearly 200 years in some stasis.
The similarities to the 'Chronicles' lay (only) in pacing, time and location, and - surprise - the depiction of dirt and mud. 'Taboo' - at least - attempts to go much deeper and excavates darker secrets of the mind and the dirty businesses, therefore being more difficult to accept but also often more gripping and surprising. Strangely to say, that 'Chronicles' is more grounded, but it has also a simpler story, and leads us to know the main character better, while 'Taboo' draws a very scratched picture of its man, so we cannot be sure what he really is and what he really wants.
Is it worth to watch 'Taboo' ? - definitively yes, if a bit slow pacing doesn't bother you, after all, there is much story-line and much 'chessplay' to process, which can't be all action.
Especially to mention is the great soundtrack by composer Max Richter, who is certainly in a league with Bear McCreary and Ramin Djawadi (or they are with him).
'Taboo' is a complex story, interwoven with an at first seemingly simple setting. A presumed dead man returns home after his father had passed away. James Delaney is assumed an abuser of his sister, man-eater, ferocious killer, madman, and so on.
The show and the main characters do their best to paint this picture of Delaney, but while the story unfolds itself, it turns out that not everything is what it looks like.
I admit that for a long time I couldn't really connect with Delaney, the character is very repellent, at least in the beginning. He is not very sympathetic, too. But he is also interesting, because between all that mystery and 'being so dangerous' he is also deeply hurt and broken. The story of abuse and sexual relationship with his sister may have been true, or something that he desperately evaded by leaving the country then.
Compared to 'The Frankenstein Chronicles', Tom Hardy doesn't have the intensive presence of Sean Bean, but I'm sure he will one day, as he is much younger. Meanwhile, he does a very good job by being inscrutable and - strangely - lifelike, as his character Delaney would play simply himself after nearly 200 years in some stasis.
The similarities to the 'Chronicles' lay (only) in pacing, time and location, and - surprise - the depiction of dirt and mud. 'Taboo' - at least - attempts to go much deeper and excavates darker secrets of the mind and the dirty businesses, therefore being more difficult to accept but also often more gripping and surprising. Strangely to say, that 'Chronicles' is more grounded, but it has also a simpler story, and leads us to know the main character better, while 'Taboo' draws a very scratched picture of its man, so we cannot be sure what he really is and what he really wants.
Is it worth to watch 'Taboo' ? - definitively yes, if a bit slow pacing doesn't bother you, after all, there is much story-line and much 'chessplay' to process, which can't be all action.
Especially to mention is the great soundtrack by composer Max Richter, who is certainly in a league with Bear McCreary and Ramin Djawadi (or they are with him).