"James, you are a fool."
Full spoilers for Taboo continue below.
James Delaney's plan to take all his allies and head to Noutka Sound seems like a bit of a pipe dream now, no?
The penultimate episode of Taboo: Season 1 sees Delaney's best laid plans come crumbling around him, but they sort of needed to. This is not the type of show where the hero -- no matter how flawed he is -- moves forward in the linear direction he planned. Instead, it's a narrative which has fits and starts, and circles back in on itself to offer character exploration and introverted reflection. And ultimately, Delaney's journey isn't about amassing wealth and living a happy life on a plot of land in America, any way.
Instead, it's about Delaney getting revenge against Stuart Strange and the East India Company for the horrors it forced him to commit so many years prior. It's about finding a way to exact payment for the slave lives that were lost, and for the years he lost in Africa. That has been Delaney's goal all along, and though everything else fell apart in this week's episode, at least he got Strange exactly where he wants him. As he ominously tells Strange at the very end of the episode: "I have a use for you."
The second to last episode of a season frequently is used primarily to set up whatever the climax in the finale is, and Taboo's "Episode 7" was no different, even with a season as short as this one. Instead of payoff, there was a lot of set up for however Delaney's plans come together (or fall apart) in next week's episode. "Episode 7" was a lot of Delaney and Strange moving their chess pieces around to see who could come out on top. From the EIC killing Winter, to Delaney helping Chinchester get Godfrey's testimony, to taking advantage of Helga's vengeful confession, it was never clear who really had the upper hand, and quite honestly still isn't. I'm expecting the finale will include a mic drop moment from Delaney, but everything is pretty up in the air at this point.
At least Taboo poked some fun at its depiction of Tom Hardy's character. There hasn't been much time for self-awareness in the FX/BBC co-production, but Delaney's comment to Chinchester about his spiraling mental state -- "It is no use, i am always like this" -- is pretty on the nose. When Coop used a potion on Delaney that would alter his perception of reality, I couldn't help but think, "Isn't that pretty much how he always lives?"
Between him and Zilpha, they both are total wrecks of people who have been royally screwed over by their family, their keepers and their circumstances. At least Delaney has remained interesting even as he's gone off the rails. With one episode to go in Season 1, I'm not sure there's anything that can be done to rescue Zilpha's character arc (at least this year). As hard as Oona Chaplin has tried to do something interesting with the character, her one-note storyline has still managed to be all over the place and hasn't had a good payoff. But hey, at least she finally killed her deadbeat husband last week.
As we come to the end of the season, I am interested to see how much of the past seven episodes' plots have been misdirects and how much was significant to how everything comes together. This is a show that will be better viewed in the rearview mirror, as the narrative layered on itself up through the culmination of the season finale. Brace's admission of killing Delaney's father, for example, seems significant, but didn't get much play in "Episode 7." How he follows up on that reveal and his desires to similarly give James some peace will likely be important in the finale. Similarly, the web of alliances Delaney brought together seemed to have crumbled apart this week, but he seems very, very sure he'll get himself a ship, which makes me think they aren't quite as squandered as they might appear.
The Verdict
Taboo reset the playing field before its Season 1 finale, with Delaney finally making some real forward advancement on his revenge plot -- though not making as much advancement on his plan to get to Noutka Sound. There was a lot of set up in "Episode 7" to get the stage set for the upcoming finale, and because of that there wasn't a lot of payoff here. This week was all build up, so hopefully the series is able to follow through with an immensely satisfying conclusion.
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