‘Furious’ Review: An Imperfect Crime Drama but Deeply Compelling Human Exploration

If Furious was the first show you watched from creator and showrunner Elizabeth Meriwether, you never would’ve been able to guess that she comes from a comedy-writing background, let alone that she was the creator and showrunner of New Girl of all things. While this isn’t Meriwether’s first foray into drama, it’s a show that couldn’t be more different from her sitcom/comedy background.

Furious isn’t just any little ‘ol crime drama either, it tackles deeply serious topics including but not limited to sexual assault, domestic abuse, child sex trafficking, and so much more. The show works as well as it does because it never shies away from what comes from tackling something as serious as that and the most important decision it makes is to focus on the victims.

While that may sound obvious that they would, it’s how they focus on the victim. In this case, the serial killer Catherine is shown from the start as the killer. There is no secret surrounding her identity, it’s not a whodunnit in any shape or form. It’s barely even a whydunnit after the first couple of episodes. It’s made very clear that she’s killing those who’ve abused and trafficked her and while there are some important things that come to light, they’re not as important as the exploration of that.

Furious follows Alice Black (Emmy Rossum), a relatively new FBI agent who left her job as a detective for NYPD after her then-boyfriend assaulted her. Her friend and former colleague, Detective Danny (Scoot McNairy), enlists her help for a homicide crime scene of a wealthy man.

They quickly realize that this is more than just a murder and it might be connected to a larger spree of murders going after potential sex-trafficking perpetrators. We also follow Catherine (Lola Petticrew) on her killing journey as she drugs the men that wronged her and slowly but surely kills them as they feel powerless.

All the lead actors are phenomenal. I’d seen Emmy Rossum on Shameless and Scoot McNairy on Halt & Catch Fire both give some of the best TV performances out there, so it wasn’t a surprise to me that they are both absolutely fantastic in this show. But Lola Petticrew and Quincy Tyler Bernstine are both revelations. This show doesn’t work without Lola giving a lifetime of a performance as Catherine that allows the audience to connect and empathize with her despite the repulsive things we see her do on screen, beyond what she does to the men. Quincy Tyler Bernstine is also just magic in her role, she adds so much charisma to her character. Every line reading is the best you’ll hear until she tops herself again. If this show does anything, I hope it gives these two some bigger chances in Hollywood because they more than deserve it after this.

There are a couple things that hold Furious back in my eyes. While the highs are deeply compelling and thrilling, it’s not a show I’m always compelled by. There’s a sense of oddity in very many moments that I’m not sure I quite jive with. Some stuff they do with Catherine in particular loses my interest for somewhat large portions of the show, especially in the middle. I’m not sure this show quite lands the ending either. I think it was a decent finale that felt underwhelming mostly because it comes off two very good episodes right before it. It leans into the unorthodox elements of the show in a way I’m not sure ends up working for me.

Regardless, a lot of this show worked for me. I was deeply compelled by the characters and the performances behind them and how the show tackles those very heavy topics with such reverence. It’s always great to see how uniquely a show can take on a cat-and-mouse thriller and do things you haven’t seen done with it before. I do wish some of the edges of the brownie ended up more crispy, but I can’t complain when the middle is as decadent and layered as it is.

Furious is streaming on Hulu, it was created by Elizabeth Meriwether, and stars Emmy Rossum, Scoot McNairy, Quincy Tyler Bernstine, and Lola Petticrew.

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