Brief Story Line
Set in the 19th century England, a unique event occurred in London where a lot of women and some men somehow gotten unique powers. Despite having abilities, these people who were referred to as "The Touched" were being marginalized by the society. They also caught the attention of the British government, especially Lord Massen (Pip Torrens - The Danish Girl etc) who was wary of their influence.
Some of them were living in an orphanage managed by a widow named Amalia True (Laura Donnelly - Tolkien, The Outlander TV series etc) together with inventor Penance Adair (Ann Skelly - Red Rock TV series etc) where they were considered the leaders. The orphanage itself was financed by the Touched sympathizer, Lady Lavinia Bidlow (Olivia Williams - The Ghost Writer, Counterpart TV series etc). She had a shy socially awkward younger brother named Augustus "Augie" (Tom Riley - Da Vinci's Demons TV series etc) who was best friend with another aristocrat with questionable moral, Hugo Swann (James Norton - Little Women 2019 version, Flatliners remake etc).
The Touched were also under heavy scrutiny since one of them, named Maladie (Amy Manson - Doom: Annihilation etc) was a ruthless serial killer. A police task force led by Inspector Frank Mundi (Ben Chaplin) was created to capture Maladie and her associates. So what would happen to the Touched and what was the reason for having the powers? Find them all in the first part of this very exciting first season.
End of Brief Story Line
Wow it was a real challenge to write a brief story line that hopefully covered the plot and introduced the characters involved due to the large ensemble cast. I hope the above did not reveal too much, but at least gave a picture of what the story's all about. From the pilot episode I was truly hooked by the lead characters Mrs. True and Penance. It was so refreshing watching them working together, especially with the unique skill/abilities they had. And it was also a joy seeing their chemistry as best friends who compliment each other. I thought Laura Donnelly and Ann Skelly were just perfect for their roles.
And when other characters were introduced, it was not boring at all. I especially love it whenever they were conversing using the sophisticated English grammar. That scene before the opera started was just amazing and captivating for me looking at the people talking to one another. Plus the fight scenes. Yes there were some quite well choregraphed fight scenes combined with nice enough special effects to give more impact for audience.
Another factor that made me love the series from the start was the very colorful characters of the Touched who were living in the orphanage. Aside from the two I mentioned above, there were also people like Lucy Best (Elizabeth Berrington), Doctor Cousens (Zackary Momoh), a 16 year old girl Primrose (Anna Devlin), Myrtle (Viola Prettejohn) and Harriet (Kiran Sonia Sawar) each with her/his own ability. It could be a handful to remember them one by one, but luckily they were so unique that after an episode it was not that hard. There were also other support cast appearing in here such as Eleanor Tomlinson (Jack the Giant Slayer, Love Wedding Repeat etc) as Mary, Rochelle Neil as Bonfire Annie, Ella Smith as Desiree, Denis O'hare (Dallas Buyers Club, American Horror Story TV series as Dr. Hague, and Nick Frost (Truth Seekers TV series, Shaun of the Dead trilogy etc).
What made me could not stop watching and able to finish this in 1 day was the story that just keep on getting better. My favorite episodes were the pilot as it opened up with a bang and the 3rd episode that was an absolute shocker. The 6th episode was also great, even if it was confusing at the beginning. But after a while I could appreciate it better and it has an ending that made me really excited and could not wait for the 2nd part. I just hope it would be shown in the same year. Btw, one thing that I did not really get was the title as I personally thought The Touched might have been more suitable.
The visual effects and costume department did a really fantastic job in creating a convincing Victorian period settings. And the series somehow did not give a dark and gloomy feeling. Probably it was due to the series creator was Joss Whedon who has created successful series like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, Dollhouse, even Marvel Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Although there were controversies surrounding his exit from the series, Whedon was still credited as the creator and director for certain episodes.
HBO classified the series for 18+ due to to some profound language, sex & nudity. There were also some graphic violent scenes including suicide scenes that may be disturbing for audience. So better be ready for those. Overall I really enjoyed watching this series, looking at Victorian women (and some men) with powers fighting for their lives. For those who are looking for series with mostly British cast and having intelligently written dialogues, plus some good action, interesting cast and intriguing story, then this would be to your liking. This time, I disagree with most critics who only gave lukewarm review to the series, as I really love the first season (well at least the 1st half). Let's hope the second part could maintain the same quality.
Mike's movie moments rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
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