Eight episodes on Netflix. A Greek myth remix – the lazy comparison is going to be with SUCCESSION, as an ageing and paranoid Zeus (Jeff Goldblum working within established Jeff Goldblumisms only to poke holes in that bubble here and there) starts to lose his grip. Marvellous cast. It has that Game Of Thrones-ish pleasure of seeing British actors you thought had disappeared. Joe McGann! Cathy Tyson as the leader of the girl-biker Furies!
It starts with great speed, attack and style. If you watch it and wonder why it seems to slow and meander, the bad news is that the final episode sets up a second season. Which for me was a shame, because the early section led me to believe this was going to be a fast and furious single-season statement. But, when you’ve got a cast this good, you want to keep playing with them, I guess.
That said, it’s funny, sometimes viscerally fucking horrifying, and it does a great job of not letting you know what’s going to happen next whether you know the myths or not. Really well written and planned.
The production design is excellent. There is the sense of working within a certain budget for the good of the story – the things unseen, the sets re-used, the application of limits for storytelling cohesion. This is a Netflix show, but honestly it seems well within the BBC’s means. Hell, even Jeff Goldblum has done BBC plays for television before.
I don’t especially keep up? But it’s the best original series I’ve seen on Netflix in ages.