Series: Taboo

Director: Kristoffer Nyholm

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Cast: Tom Hardy, Oona Chaplin, David Hayman, Stephen Graham, Michael Kelly and Jonathan Pryce

Taboo, a new miniseries co-created by Tom Hardy, made a superb start with its pilot episode, Shovels and Keys and manages to continue in the same vein, in a tense second episode.

Carrying on where we left off, James Delaney (Tom Hardy) is trying to find out if the East India Company (EIC) truly killed his father and at the same time, trying to gather some much-needed allies as he astutely surmises that he can't win this battle on his own.

The EIC are the villains of Taboo, that was established early on in the first episode and in the follow-up, we see a more direct approach from their end, which certainly ups the tempo.

James secures the services of his version of his fly on the wall, the grimy, batty Atticus (Stephen Graham). And, while the madam Helga (Franka Potente) seems to be on his side for the moment, it remains to be seen whether they will stick with him in choppy waters. Such dubious characters are perfect for the mysterious James, who will need all the help he can muster.
His obsession with his step-sister sister (Oona Chaplin), however, is a little grating, seeming like an annoying sidetrack for the moment at least.

Sir Stuart Strange (Jonathan Pryce) is clearly losing his patience and demands drastic results even as James makes baby steps towards building his own shipping empire. Something has to give and while we get James is a proverbial bad-ass, it would be silly to assume one man can openly defy the EIC for long. He goes out on a limb to openly court the good people at Boston, but it is unclear how exactly would they be able to provide him with adequate assistance. 

For the first time, James is forced to confront the threats that had been swirling in the London air head on and while he comes off a little worse, with the episode ending on a virtual cliffhanger, it is safe to say that underestimating the omnipresent EIC is severely hazardous for your health.

There is plenty going on in Taboo, with danger lurking at literally every corner for the Delaney scion even as new contenders for his father’s will crop up, and at this junction it is too close to say who will come out on top.