The Artful Dodger

⭐ 10.0/10

(Originally written by kare)

After a very long absence, I am making my triumphant return to this platform so that I may scream about a show I just finished because I don’t see any reviews about it here. I know the show is barely a month old, but I need everyone to know about it immediately because I LOVED IT.

Set 15 years after the events in Oliver Twist, the story follows Jack Dawkins in his new life as a surgeon before an encounter with someone from his past shakes everything up. And that is literally all I will say about the plot because I want you to experience it for yourself.

Content warning: there was some medical gore, but in my opinion, nothing too grotesque that made me want to turn away. 

I thought the plot was very engaging. Revisiting these old characters in a new story was a lot of fun. I’ve always been a fan of Dodger so I enjoyed watching this imagining of what could’ve happened to him after his storyline ended in Twist.

The casting was PHENOMENAL. The pairing of Thomas Brodie-Sangster and David Thewlis was perfection. Their chemistry was one of my favourite aspects of the show, they played off of each other so well. And when they weren’t in scenes together, they both commanded the screen individually and shined in their roles so beautifully. I don’t think we talk about either of these actors enough, but I hope they both get major recognition for their work in this show. And many more lead roles, please and thank you.

I hadn’t heard of Maia Mitchell before this, but I thought she did a terrific job and I really enjoyed her character. She was witty, intelligent and strong, and her interactions with her sister were hilariously and painfully relatable for someone with both an older and younger sister.

The supporting cast was also great, the secondary characters all added interesting and entertaining elements to the story. 

I don’t know if I’ve ever been so instantaneously drawn into a show like I was with this one. By the end of the first episode, I was fully hooked and couldn’t resist the urge to binge all 8 episodes in two days. When I wasn’t able to watch it, I was thinking about it. Truthfully, I don’t know if I can even express why I loved this so much, it’s just one of those shows that hit all the right notes for me.

It appears that it was intended to only be a mini-series, but I will hold my breath and hope that they decide to give us more content because I’m not ready for this story to end! And seeing as it has such excellent reviews, maybe there’s a chance??? Either way, this is one show that I will be watching over and over for a very long time!