Wednesday, October 25, 2023

(MINI SERIES) Bodies - A Fascinating Mystery Drama Series with Some Complex Sci-fi Element

As soon as I read the plot of this upcoming series on Netflix last week, I immediately felt intrigued and wanted to watch it at the earliest. I began to do it on Saturday night and managed to finish on the following day. All right, let us just get right to it.

Brief Story Line

In the year 2023 London, DC Shahara Hasan (Amaka Okafor - Greatest Days etc) found a naked body with a bullet wound in the left eye and a unique mark on his right wrist at Longharvest Lane. As she investigate the case under the supervision of her boss DCI Jack Barber (Michael Jibson - The Lighthouse etc), they found that it was more than met the eye.

Meanwhile in 1941, DS Charles Whiteman (Jacob Fortune-Lloyd - See How They Run etc) was led by a female voice over the phone (Greta Scacchi - Presumed Innocent etc) to a body which apparently was the same one found in 2023 at the same location. More mysteriously though was when back in 1890, DI Alfred Hillinghead (Kyle Soller - Marrowbone etc) also found the same body in Longharvest Lane. He managed to find a clue about suspicious person at the time when the body was found, which was later revealed to be the very wealthy Sir Julian Harker (Stephen Graham - Venom: Let There be Carnage etc).

As the story moved forward to the future in year 2053, DC Iris Maplewood (Shira Haas - Unorthodox TV series etc) somehow encountered the same body. So what was the reason for this same body to appear at four different times in Longharvest Lane? And how would the story conclude? You could find them all in this mini series.

End of Brief Story Line

Wow that was just amazing! It had been quite some time that I watched a science fiction series which truly got me hooked and could not stop watching till end. And since it was a limited series with only 8 episodes, I was obviously very delighted as I could finish it easily without having to wait for years to see the conclusion. Even from the very beginning, it already raised my curiosity with the finding of same body in four different period, not to mention that surprising episode ending.

As the story progressed, the complexities only grew more where almost every episode ended with unpredictable twist. There were plenty of blow your mind moments in the series that I think only the amazing Germany series Dark that had more and was even better than this. After a while, I felt that year 2023 was my most favorite period in the series due to its significance, whereas the years 1890 and 1941 felt more like filler, although their importance were made clearer in latter episodes. Year 2053 was not really my favorite probably because of the characters, but then again it was also very crucial to the whole story. 

Of all the detectives handling the case, I thought DS Whiteman was the one who I really liked as he was not the white/black kind of police but completely gray. Aside from the name I mentioned above, there were some recurring cast and guest stars like Synnøve Karlsen (Last Night In Soho etc) as Hillinghead's daughter Polly, George Parker as the journalist Henry Ashe in 1890, Tom Mothersdale as the Body and few others. Btw, I noticed in the opening credit that the series was based on graphic novel of same title written by Si Spencer under DC Comics/ Vertigo.

For a mystery drama series with a strong sci-fi element, I liked this series a lot. As I said earlier, the episodes almost always had some surprising twist which was something that I looked forward to. I really liked episode 7 which seemed to clear everything while the finale was a good way to close. But it was not exactly what I hoped for, plus the way it was resolved felt a bit inconclusive on one of the character. Which was why I did not feel that final scene in 8th episode to be well placed and personally to me made it more confusing instead of satisfying. 

Overall this was a very entertaining series that would be really enjoyable for fans of such mysterious plot. It was one that would keep you intrigued till almost the end. Plus that sci-fi element would definitely please audience who love this kind of story and do not mind such complex premise. It seemed critics appreciated this one and audience liked it too as it became Top 10 watched show in many countries. For me personally though, the series would be even greater had the ending was told in a bit different way, but it was still something that I enjoyed a lot.

Mike's movie moments rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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