DUBAI: “Furious” — in which a female serial killer is hunted by a female agent — has, inevitably, drawn comparisons to “Killing Eve.” And while it’s true that fans of the latter are likely among the target audience, “Furious” is a far heavier, more subtle show.
The killer is Catherine (Lola Petticrew), and she makes her victims suffer — (often) seducing, drugging and starving them. Her pursuer is junior FBI agent Alice Black (Emmy Rossum), who’s recently quit her job in the NYPD after walking away from her abusive long-term boyfriend and fellow cop Marshall. Black’s former NYPD partner Danny Kelly (Scoot McNairy) — one of the very few decent men in the show — is just about the only one of her former colleagues still talking to her.
Catherine, too, has endured more than her share of suffering; in her case being trafficked and sexually abused while still a child. Now she’s out for revenge against her abusers. So both women are working through their trauma in very different ways: Catherine by unleashing her rage, Black by bottling hers up along with pretty much all her other emotions.
The first half of the series — four episodes have yet to air — provides plenty to engross viewers: twisty plotlines, gritty subtext, a willingness to muddy the moral waters (Catherine’s abusers, for example, are not portrayed simply as monsters), and compelling performances.
Rossum is excellent as Black, bringing both vulnerability and uncompromising strength to a role that also offers a satisfying side line in acerbic wit. Petticrew has to walk that same line and does so well, even if her portrayal threatens, at times, to cross into scene-chewing “Hey! Aren’t I crazy?” stereotype territory. And McNairy imbues Kelly with a touching empathy that fleshes the character out beyond one dimension.
The main thing “Furious” has going for it, though, is that it tackles dark themes with more than a hint of Epstein about them — trauma, misogyny, institutional sexism, how wealth can make people believe they’re above the law, the sexual abuse of children — with intelligence and nuance, and the belief that the audience can handle that.
