• Home
  • Podcast
    • Specials
  • Interviews
  • Movie Reviews
  • TV Reviews
  • DVD Reviews
  • Columns
  • News
    • TV News
    • Film News
    • DVD News
    • Online Entertainment News
    • Space News
    • Music News
    • On Stage
    • Geeky, Funny & Weird

Slice of SciFi

This is How We Geek Out: Interviews, Reviews & More

  • Writers, After Dark
  • The Babylon Podcast
  • Slice of SciFi TV
  • Charlie Jade Verse
  • Contact Us
    • About Us
5 Episodes In: “Taboo”

5 Episodes In: “Taboo”

February 14, 2017 By Ro 3 Comments

Taboo caught my attention the old fashion (but atypical for me) way: a TV promo. It looked to be chocked full of the mystical, the disturbed and maybe, just maybe (if we’re lucky) utter mayhem. Now, I freely admit that I am absurdly enamored with Tom Hardy; after watching him rise inexplicably from what appeared to be a river covered in paint, I had not the first damn clue what in hell I’d just viewed. I was also absolutely certain I’d be watching when the show aired on FX…

Taboo on FX

To give myself some standing before trying to drag my less-Tom Hardy obsessed friends into possibly watching along with me, I did go looking for a show synopsis: Taboo is a grim tale of a man, James Delaney, whose reemergence (from the dead) into English society coincides with the death of his father. It seems the “civilized” world believed he perished when a ship on its way to Africa sank. His reappearance in 1814 London coincides with Britain’s not so successful battles with its former colonies in American over independence and territory (think American Revolution and the War of 1812). As he makes moves to take control of his father’s crumbling shipping business intent on establishing himself he must navigate personal trials and political machinations to seize control of a piece of property included in his inheritance that of interest to the warring nations.

With an unmistakable swagger, and amidst rumors of depravity and savagery, James Delaney saunters into his father’s funeral upsetting both the ceremony and the plans the very powerful East India Company has for his father’s estate. He seems to have information he shouldn’t – given his long absence from England and its affairs – an utter lack of regard for his standing as a servant of the Crown, a deep-seated antipathy for explanation and more than a bit of shadowy menace emanating from his palatable aura.

His interpersonal relationships have their own… challenges. By the end of episode one, it’s obvious Delaney’s attachment to his half-sister, Zilpha (Oona Chaplin), is rather unseemly and one she appears – I don’t believe it – to want no parts in. By the end of episode five if you don’t want her husband, Thorne Geary (Jefferson Hall) to die a slow, miserably painful death then you need to think really hard about your life priorities. Piece by piece each episode brings together a cast of characters unique in their appearance and seriously deep in the game being played.

It’s a political intrigue wrapped in hyper realistic revenge story often hallucinogenic in its presentation. I don’t know exactly which Orisha’s Delaney’s calling on when he turns the way of the mystic but I’d say he and they put a power behind his agenda yet to be fully revealed. I watch. I listen. I learn more as the story unfolds and damned if still don’t I have the foggiest clue who can be trusted – seriously I got questions for Brace – or what the actual hell is going to happen next[note]Note: I have reached one conclusion: people really need to learn to stop testing James Delaney.[/note].

Taboo on FX

Taboo is a many layered macabre drama unfolding its mystery with a deliberate viciousness and at an unhurried pace just possibly designed to drive me mad. It’s a grim semi-fantastical journey into the life of James Delaney and his escapades told with an eye to revealing the base nature of man – he’s got with a wide violent streak and acts only according to his closely held sense of ethics. He’s crazy; the kind of crazy you really want to see you as an asset rather than an obstacle. And God help you if he thinks you’re his enemy.

Five episodes in and I can’t look away.

Things to know:
Taboo makes no bones about its intention to reflect the 19th century in all its unvarnished grotesqueness. London is dirty, the language is foul, and the paradoxical nature of man is on full unflinching display. It’s not for the faint of heart or those who like their period pieces to be a constantly rosy or whitewashed a bright shining comfortable expression of a booming aristocracy. If you can’t deal with shows that don’t tip-toe around blunt racial references, questionable familial relationships (both period authentic – don’t lie to yourself), let alone blood, death, and violence, give this show a pass. It’s not the London you’re looking for.

Rating: 4.25 out of 5


Set in 1814, Taboo follows James Keziah Delaney, a man who has been to the ends of the earth and comes back irrevocably changed. Believed to be long dead, he returns home to London from Africa to inherit what is left of his father’s shipping empire and rebuild a life for himself. But his father’s legacy is a poisoned chalice, and with enemies lurking in every dark corner, James must navigate increasingly complex territories to avoid his own death sentence. Encircled by conspiracy, murder and betrayal, a dark family mystery unfolds in a combustible tale of love and treachery.

Website: fxnetworks.com/shows/taboo
Twitter: @TabooFX

5 Episodes In: "Taboo"
4.25

Summary

Taboo caught my attention the old fashion (but atypical for me) way: a TV promo. It looked to be chocked full of the mystical, the disturbed and maybe, just maybe (if we’re lucky) utter mayhem.

Sending
User Review
0 (0 votes)

Filed Under: TV Reviews Tagged With: horror

About Ro

I'm a blerd with a law degree who stumbled into a career in healthcare regulatory compliance. I'm a pop culture junkie, social justice and political back-talker living and working in Southern California. In my free time, I read and review books at shelfenvy.com, live tweet action, sci-fi/fantasy shows and often contemplate a career change so I can write that story that just won’t leave me alone.
shelfenvy.com | Twitter: @BookBlerd

Related Posts

Black Wake (2018)
“Black Wake” misses out on invoking the awe of cosmic horror
Review: Sinners (2025)
“Sinners”: a superlative blend of genres and story
Get Out (2017)
“Get Out”: Jordan Peele Kicks Horror Up a Notch

Comments

  1. Tristi Mullett says

    February 16, 2017 at 6:47 pm

    Now I want to go see that show. Hurry up Netflix or Amazon! Stupid no cable having life.

  2. Ceeusbeeus says

    February 16, 2017 at 9:52 pm

    I started watching the show because of you Ro, but I am seriously conflicted. How much brutality and hatred about women do I need to watch? Zilpha is the original “Handmaid’s Tale” from the Old Testament and the abuse she suffers not just from her husband but from everyone else is pretty sick. Then there are the supporting women, whose sole functions in the show seem to be spreading their legs or being stupid gold diggers who think they are more clever than they are.
    That said, I can’t stop watching the show and that disturbs me for many reasons.

    • Rhonda N Moore says

      February 21, 2017 at 1:28 pm

      I can’t stop watching either. I hope it triggers some real conversations and some female character evolution in other projects on the horizon.

      It’s a far more honest look at how life was divided and lived particularly for women. I think the actresses are doing brilliant jobs – exactly because of how they don’t allow you to become comfortable with either their portrayal or the knowledge that these limited paths really existed (and in many ways and in many places still do).

      Trust me I get it I’m conflicted as all get out.

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
Search in posts

Slice

Follow Slice of SciFi

  • bluesky
  • twitter
  • youtube
  • facebook

Listen to Slice of SciFi

  • iheartradio
  • pocketcasts
  • playerfm

Subscribe to Podcast

Apple PodcastsSpotifyiHeartRadioPodchaserTuneInRSS

TV Sci-Fi Deals

  • Movie & TV Reviews

Recent Comments

  • Summer Brooks on DVD Review: “Ben 10: The Complete Collection” mostly isn’t complete: “From what I recall of the previous Warner Archive sets, the Super Friends Complete Collection and the Captain Planet Complete…”
  • Andrés on DVD Review: “Ben 10: The Complete Collection” mostly isn’t complete: “I would’ve loved a Blu-ray release of the shows and the movies.”
  • Summer Brooks on Humble Bundle: The Essential “Star Wars Insider” Collection: “I’m sad to hear that those were indeed Kobo only. I had emailed in, asking if they were Kobo or…”
  • Joe Stevensus on Humble Bundle: The Essential “Star Wars Insider” Collection: “Update Humble Bundle refunded quickly and easily. So kudos to them for that.”
  • Joe Stevensus on Humble Bundle: The Essential “Star Wars Insider” Collection: “You need Kobo to read them and it just downloads a tiny file (1.5 k file). I don’t want to…”
death to humans 160x600
mass x acceleration

Slice of SciFi
415 Pisgah Church Rd #302
Greensboro NC 27455-2590
602-635-6976

Artwork:
Slice of SciFi galaxy spiral designed by Tim Callender

Theme Music:
Slice of SciFi music and themes
courtesy of Sci-Fried

Sister Sites:
Writers, After Dark
The Babylon Podcast
Charlie Jade Verse
Slice of SciFi TV

Slice

Copyright Slice of SciFi © 2005–2025 · WordPress · Log in