Furious (Season 1)

⭐ 9.5/10

This is easily the best show I've seen all year. I don't watch a lot of TV, and I was skeptical of this one even early on. But it got better and better until the exciting finale, with a lot of room left to grow in future seasons.

This is starts as a somewhat basic cat-and-mouse, serial killer is on the loose and an FBI agent is tracking her. After episode 1 I was like, okay this is just Killing Eve, both will become fascinated with each other, they will circle the whole season, and then in the finale they finally cross paths. Not at all! Alice is the FBI agent, and she's been through a lot herself. As the case becomes about human trafficking and violence against women you learn just how personal this all is for her. Again, I was skeptical of this angle. In episode two you see her look at her shower with fear, refuse to get in, and then coworkers constantly asking what stinks. I thought the implication was clear here, but then two police officers watching her in a drunken stupor are like, "I feel sorry for her, did you know she can't shower because her boyfriend used to beat her up in there?". I almost turned it off there, I thought it was such a good setup to end in some terrible exposition. Later on in the series there is payoff for this shower stuff, and she discusses it in an impactful scene, made me wish they had cut the earlier exposition even more.

Weird tangent, but that's the only hiccup in the show for me. Her ex boyfriend is Jake Lacy in some genius casting, where you want to empathize with him so badly but you get glimpses into what he is truly like. The show gradually unravels Alice's past, and you start to understand the mess she is in personally but also the fire she has professionally. There is a mentor figure here that I thought was a bit over-the-top to start but was a perfect balance for her.

Then there is Catherine, the killer, and we get to see things from her angle. She is murdering people, but of course these are righteous killings for her, with some incredible moments as she plays with her food before actually going in for the kill. There is a tremendously surprising romance, and she carries your empathy the entire time. I feel like I am not doing a great job selling this, but it was a familiar setup executed perfectly.

Something I can't shake about this show is that it feels distinctly female. That might sounds ridiculous coming from me, and maybe its just know that its written and directed and produced by women. But it kind of hits all the big issues of our time, clearly a ton of Epstein influence in the fury over the people that can get away with anything. We have women not being listened to and respected in the workplace, while the male counterparts have all the power. That's actually another thing, I think the men are perfectly cast. Scoot McNairy is the partner on the case. He is brash, but also listens and respects his partner, trying to be sensitive while also expressing the things he doesn't understand. That sounds like he's some female fantasy but he's super well written. I mentioned Jake Lacy. There is also this crooked agent with the most punchable face ever, and he is so good as the smug higher-up throwing a wrench into all the plans.

I feel like I am really underselling this, and maybe as a man I'm being introduced to something new, a female cop drama that steers right into the cliche but does it so artfully it actually lands. It helps that all the kills feel justified, and you feel like you are getting a bit of revenge yourself. I thought the finale was excellent, with a great setup going ahead that I again feared might be a bit "Killing Eve", but I have faith that they have more in store than that.