‘Furious’ is Exceptional
Emmy Rossum and Quincy Tyler Bernstine in Furious | Credit: Hulu
As FBI Agent Alice Black (Emmy Rossum) hunts down a mysterious female serial killer, Catherine (Lola Petticrew), she’s forced to confront her own past and her own views of justice.
Furious is a fantastic season of television and one of the best new shows that I’ve watched this year! While the story is satisfying and self-contained in this one season, I’m so pleased that Hulu has greenlit a second season. Wherever this show decides to go next, I’m sure that it will cover more important topics in a way that’s also incredibly engaging. I cannot wait!
Every aspect of this show is tremendous, and I can’t wait for the avalanche of nominations they’re sure to get come awards season. Furious may start out as an FBI agent hunting down a serial killer, but it’s about so much more than that. The show dares us to look at some of the worst parts of humanity, like domestic violence, human trafficking, forced prostitution, and more. And then we sit with the women who have been forced into these situations and the ways they cope with the horrific experiences they cannot forget.
There is a lot of sensitive subject matter in this show, and we see representations of some very evil things on screen. Some of the main characters even do terrible things (often as a response to what they’ve been forced to endure), but the show still has such empathy for these women. There is a deep understanding of these women and how they are making sense of their world.
Even though this is a show about an FBI agent hunting down a serial killer, Furious doesn’t sensationalize what we’re seeing on screen. It’s not overly dramatic as these women experience or recount some of the most horrific things that can happen to a person. And even with everything that characters like Alice and Catherine have gone through, that’s not all that they are. Yes, they are survivors, but they are so much more than that—and Furious makes space for their full humanity.
Lola Petticrew in Furious | Credit: Hulu
Furious also shines a light on the systemic injustices that exist in our world today that help to enable some of the evil and violence that’s depicted in the show.
Yes, Catherine is a serial killer who has taken justice into her own hands, but as the show progresses, we understand why she’s found herself in this situation. We see how the systems that are supposed to protect people have been used by those in power to keep their money, power, and privilege.
Nora Washington (Quincy Tyler Bernstine) is a seasoned FBI agent whose team Alice joins in her hunt for this killer. But we see through Nora’s story that she has been shaped by the FBI’s own internal culture and has figured out her own way of operating in this system. While she’s still able to do some good, there’s also a cost to her playing this game. And we see the men in this world who continue to shape how the bureau’s internal politics work, so that men continue to be at the top.
It’s refreshing to watch a show like Furious that features three strong female leads as they operate in such a male-dominated world. Each character is unique and is grappling with something different—women are not all the same, even if they’re working in similar fields or have gone through similar traumas.
Emmy Rossum and Scoot McNairy in Furious | Credit: Hulu
From the writing to the acting to the cinematography, this show is exceptional. Furious so brilliantly takes the formula of an FBI agent pursuing a serial killer and turns it on its head, inviting the audience to think about some of the worst things that human beings do to each other today. It’s an entertaining show, but it also has so much to say—and it’s worth sticking with it to the very end.
Elizabeth Meriwether and the team have brought us something truly special… and I cannot wait to see where the show goes in season two.