User Reviews

The first episode of Bodies was an ambitious dystopian thriller and the four timelines did not feel like a gimmick.

The second episode could not sustain the premise entirely. It was the futuristic timeline of 2053 that felt creaky.

Although it becomes clear that something happened in 2023 that heavily shapes the future. One where a man called Mannix (Stephen Graham) is some kind of enigmatic but also an autocratic leader.

In 2023 it is Shahara Hasan who finds that it is her and her family who are being stalked as she searches for Elias Mannix. The boy who grew up in the same care home as Syed Tahir. Elias's adopted parents seem to be hiding something.

It becomes clear that the detectives in the Victorian and future timeline are also marginalised. Iris Maplewood is disabled. She and her brother were injured in the events that occur in 2023. Whereas Alfred Hillinghead although married is a secret homosexual, hence his aggression towards Henry Ashe.

The four cases are just starting to pull together, with names and events, all centering around the body that was found. As we see these things, we are introduced to people, overstepping their bounds and paying a price. Our police detectives are anything but noble in their pursuits, full of ego and ignoring the main issues. It is understandable. The anti-semitism thing makes us sympathetic to the young guy whose motives are constantly questioned. His efforts are much more personal. The events taking place in present time have a police force that needs to take a step back and review the lives of the people they are pursuing. They are after a guy for murder, even though he couldn't have done it. In the vicinity. One other thing. The future events seem sort of like warmed over Blade Runner and so speculative as to be a bit wanting.

Eight episodes never passed so quickly. Every episode was captivating. I get frustrated with shows that seem to drag things out. I get frustrated with shows that bounce through time and are hard to follow. I get frustrated with shows that don't come to a clear ending. None of those things happen with Bodies. It carries us clearly and seamlessly through four different time periods. Every moment of every episode draws you in. The final episode answers all mysteries and wraps up perfectly. The acting was phenomenal. Cinematography mesmerizing . Masterpiece of a series. I do recommend watching it when you have a few hours so you can watch multiple episodes in a sitting. I watched on long flight.

I thought episode 1 was reasonably interesting, to some extent anyway, and so hurtled into episode 2 and found my interest in the show snuffed out within the first 10 mins. I finished it, but really struggled.

It's basically a bunch of badly cobbled together timelines, with nothing meaningful to link them all together. This episode focussed at length on the 2053 time line, with snippets of the others, and it's in the 2053 part of the story where the production values take a rather sharp nose dive. It's so bad that I'm going to allow this episode to speak for the rest of the series, and drop it like a hot brick!