More wrinkles are added to Taboo's complicated narrative.
Full spoilers for Taboo continue below.
Taboo remains a mystery in a lot of ways, but its second episode at least began to clear things up on the East India Trading Company storyline. While it's yet to explain the true sordid past between James (Tom Hardy) and his half-sister Zilpha (Oona Chaplin) -- it's surely something taboo -- the episode, written by showrunner and co-creator Steven Knight, was right to hone in and clarify one thread of its complex story.
The bulk of episode 2 is spent watching James try to solidify his claim on Nootka Sound and protect himself against the impending assassination attempt coordinated by EITC's Stuart Strange (Jonathan Pryce). In doing so, the audience gained a much deeper understanding of the type of person James' father, the late Mr. Delaney, was and why so many people had turned against him.
So James tries to get his father's affairs in order, using some of his secret stash of diamonds to purchase a ship to use in his newly founded trading company, some to seemingly quiet (and probably woo) his sister and some to pay off the debts of his father. But an unexpected wrinkle -- for both the audiences, James and the EITC -- sets these affairs aflame when an actress named Lorna Delaney (nee Bow) shows up with proof that she's the wife of James' father.
It's an intriguing, straightforward wrinkle in a show that tries so hard to be abstruse most of the time. While the mysterious memories of captured slaves and visions of a seeming witch woman (who we can presume is James' true mother) are laid out for the viewer to assume what they will, episode 2 has a better balance of solid plot development to serve as a foundation for the other storylines still waiting to be explored. At least the series looks as gorgeous as ever, with some beautiful eye for great cinematography from director Kristoffer Nyholm and cinematographer Mark Patten.
While Chaplin's Zilpha still remains an enigmatic presence, it's Franka Potente's Helga who had the most intriguing character development in Taboo's second episode. The Run Lola Run actress didn't get much time to lay the groundwork for her brothel madame character in the premiere, but here we learn she has a secret daughter, Winter, who she is protecting. Seeing Helga unmasked and vulnerable and learning how she is trying to work against James for her own ends helps paint her as a real character when she easily could fall into stereotype territory.
Hardy's quiet, commanding presence was put to good use as well, as James is more interesting when he's exerting control versus dabbling in insanity. James' power play with the people looking for him to pay his fathers' debts gave us our best look at the man at his best. He didn't need to shout to be heard, didn't need to demand to get action. As James remains an enigma, it's these moments -- like his frank talk with Helga -- that give Hardy his best material and make his character engaging. Now we just need to get to the bottom of what his relationship with the Americans actually is.
Then there's the cliffhanger, which has James bleeding out after killing his would-be assassin. The cliffhangers sets up more interesting explorations in future episodes, particularly of James' relationship with death. After a first episode that threw a lot of information at the viewer without a lot of context, hopefully Taboo continues to pace itself with episodes like this one.
The Verdict
After a complicated and sometimes convoluted premiere episode, Taboo opted for more straightforward storytelling in episode 2. Still as gorgeous as ever, this week's episode honed in on the East India Trading Company conspiracy and why and how James is working against them. While Taboo still asks a lot of patience of its audience as other mysteries get slowly rolled out, this is a good sign of some hopefully solid payoff down the road. Taboo remains worth the investment as its leads deliver great performances and it creates an intriguing, dark world.
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