bobbie's motivation was pretty damn believable to me. i'm not sure the reviewer is keyed in enough to the traumatic betrayal that bobbie feels.

it's called dramatization. the filmmakers can't show everything — they have to make choices. sure it's a little jarring because that group was so small, and hanging out in that weird dinky hangar did not make it feel appropriately important. but it's an easy and effective narrative shorthand that shows us the fickle…

jared harris power rankings:
3) vlad, the russian cabby in 'happiness.'
2) the terrifying backwoods bean-hater in 'dead man.'
1) lane mother-fucking pryce

the first cut from occam's razor is the deepest.

i'm confused by dawes' escape; if he and cortazar were not on the ship that the rocinante disables and docks with, where the hell were they? wasn't dawes' ship the only one that got away from tycho station?

or instead of a psychic echo maybe the angry boy has been made physically manifest by david's raging telekinetic powers and is now TOTALLY FOR REALS and good luck sleeping ever again

Immediately, exceedingly, and repeatedly … Jemaine.

What an incredible 4-episode run.

arthouse drama thunderdome!

small pleasures from taboo, item 1:

taboo's title can be read literally, but it also serves as an intentional argument against its own definition.

i wondered the same thing, but i think the safe assumption is probably just that life as a double agent is tricky—he has to appear competent to both of his masters; the americans and the EIC. maybe the gunpowder thing was crucial to his standing with the americans?

tell that to karl urban.

seems like most people are pretty 'meh' about taboo. i myself had a grand old time watching it unfold, and even its inconsistencies entertained me.

seems like most people are pretty 'meh' about taboo. i myself had a grand old time watching it unfold, and even its inconsistencies entertained me.

toot any horn you like. as long as you keep dropping some more sweet, sweet insight bombs about taboo, please. they're exactly what's lacking from these sophomoric 'official' reviews.

Okay. I just had another thought related to the question of just how savage and mystical Delaney is in reality, versus how much is a calculated performance.

I re-read your initial post (there's a lot to unpack there!), and you make several thematic connections that I had not considered at all. The idea of viewing the show through the representational lens of blackness or whiteness is fascinating, and clearly an intentional part of Taboo's construction. Just look at the…

Great analysis! And don't feel too bad—these reviews are worthy of blasting. Episode after episode Emily's writing shows that she does not understand what the show is doing or why. She writes in a high-toned academic voice, yet repeatedly misses fairly obvious subtext and themes. And the substance of her criticism…

after being so vexed by her reviews for so many episodes, i must cop to agreeing with much of emily's criticism this week.