TABOO's Tom Hardy - A Man Possessed

TABOO’s Tom Hardy – A Man Possessed

Andrew Sieger

            A man, cloaked in black, stands on the bow of row boat.  James Keziah Delaney is crossing the River Styx returning from Hades, the Land of the Dead. 

Not really.  Well… maybe?  Either way, it’s going to be a lot of fun finding out.

            James Delaney is played by the brilliant Tom Hardy in FX’s newest series, Taboo, on Tuesday nights at 10pm.   

            The good folks at Variety tell us, among many other things, the story for this compelling and enigmatic new series was conceived by the actor’s father, Chips Hardy.  Tom Hardy himself said the character of former East India Company soldier is a combination of Bill Sikes from Oliver Twist, Marlow from Heart of Darkness with a bit of Jack the Ripper.

            I’m sold!

            While the traits of those characters can be seen, the end result is pure Tom Hardy.  From the moment he steps ashore, Hardy continues his impressive string of performances that, I dare say, remind me of a young Marlon Brando in power, presence and charisma.  He’s here to blow this world apart and from the expressions on the faces of everyone who sees him (and thinks he’s dead), they know and fear he can and will shake the rafters and bring the entire house down.

            Said house is the desire of the East India Company to gain possession of an island off the shore of Vancouver, British Columbia that Hardy’s father has left in his will.  At first, the task seems easy for the wonderfully slimy Jonathan Pryce as Sir Stuart Strange (with a name like that…), the head of the East India Company.  He will buy the land from Hardy’s sister who, along with her scumbag husband, is cash strapped and ready to sell.  But along comes Hardy as James Keziah Delaney who has the rightful claim to the island as his father’s heir.

            In the premiere episodes thrilling climactic scene, Delaney meets with the heads of the East India Company.  Something happened to Delaney on his travels that has turned him against his former employers and turned him into a man possessed by a power born of rage and revenge.

            He reminds Sir Stuart Strange that he was a tool used by the British Empire.  An empire built on the backs of slaves, slave traders and the genocide of native peoples.  Delaney will not allow his island, the native home of his mother, which his father bought for beads and gunpowder, to be used to further enrich the King.

            Creator/Writer extraordinaire Steven Knight has created a world full of shadows and secrets.  A world where everyone’s eyes tell us they’ve done terrible things in the past and are afraid those events will be known or worse, repeated.  The story walks the difficult line between mystery and frustration.  We are given just enough information to relate to the characters but not enough to completely trust them.  I’ve only seen the first episode but I was on the edge of my seat for each and every moment.

            Knight deftly sets up so much conflict and puzzles in the premiere episode, he hooks us like a big mouth bass.  What did James bury?  Who poisoned his father?  What is the secret between him and his sister?  What role will his father’s illegitimate son play and who are his real parents?  What will Jonathan Pryce and the East India Company do to convince James to sell the island?

            Will I be glued to my couch watching FX on Tuesday nights at 10pm for the next 8 weeks? 

            I'll be there like a man possessed.