REVIEW: Cursed – Season 1

Movies

I’ve been looking forward to Cursed for a while. The idea of a new take on the Arthurian legends from the likes of The Cape’s Tom Wheeler and comic book icon Frank Miller was going to make for a really interesting show, and I had to check out this origin story for The Lady of the Lake when it hit Netflix. So was Cursed magical or hexed?

Cursed opens with a super explaining that the story is about Excalibur – or, as it’s called in this show, the Sword of Power – and the girl who wields it. Then the heroine, Katherine Langford’s Nimue, plunges into water, bloodied. In a voiceover, Nimue ponders where to begin. After the credits, Nimue rides on horseback towards her village, running afoul of a few bullies soon after she arrives, allowing her to showcase her powers for the first time as we see why she is treated with such scorn in her village. Her mother, who is the high priestess of the village, helps her to calm down. Later, much to Nimue’s chagrin, she is forced to participate in a summoning where she rejects the honor of being the next summoner. She argues with her mother about her refusal and decides to leave home, her sister Pim following her. Nimue plans to board a ship, bound for a life away from the expectations put upon her, with Pim trying to talk her out of it along the way. When Nimue is told that the ship has left and she will have to wait six months to set sail, she and her sister head home, but not before meeting Arthur, who is presented here as a thief and a con man. After getting into a craps game with a less-than-noble knight, Nimue returns home to see her village in ruins and the Red Paladins – led by Father Carden – on a mission to kill the Fey. As Nimue makes it back to her mother just before she is killed, her mother begs her to take Excalibur to Merlin. Merlin has lost his ability to use magic, which causes him to be cast out of King Uther’s court, facilitating a need to forge alliances elsewhere. Along her journey, Nimue meets several other figures from the mythology, such as Gawain, whom she has known since childhood, and Arthur’s sister Ingraine.

Cursed is an interesting take on the Arthurian Legend, to say the least. What starts as a quest to fulfill Nimue’s mother’s dying wish becomes a mission to protect the Fey, even if it means Nimue sacrificing herself for the greater good, something with which Morgana disagrees. While on the surface, this might seem like the Campbellian archetypes at work, I have to admit, it’s particularly effective here, even if it borrows too liberally from a galaxy far, far away for my taste. That being said, there are a few things that don’t work for me, most notably the game of “guess who” the show plays. Don’t get me wrong; it’s a fun twist to find out who Igraine really is and all that entails. But when that happens with a few members of Arthur’s future knights, as well as Arthur’s love life, the shock value wears off. This story is built on the idea that it’s supposed to be a new take on the mythology, but a lot of these reveals feel like they happen for their own sake rather than to serve the story; it’s a glorified Easter egg hunt that gets boring after a while. However, the biggest problem with Cursed is the pacing. I was pleasantly surprised that the show’s first season was ten episodes, rather than Netflix’s seemingly preferred first season count of eight. Frankly, however, this show would’ve been better served with fewer episodes.

Despite these pacing problems, several cast members are fantastic in Cursed, most notably Katherine Langford and Devon Terrell. I’ve been looking forward to seeing Langford’s performance, and I’m pleased to say that it didn’t disappoint. She is at turns vulnerable and assertive, active where necessary, but by the end of the series, you absolutely believe her as a leader, shedding away any expectations the adults in her life had for her and forging her own path – or, perhaps more appropriately, her own legend. As for Terrell, he offers something different to this version of Arthur that hasn’t been portrayed well in other iterations. While we came close with Guy Ritchie’s take on the character, Cursed gives us an Arthur who lives without the privileges of royalty or love of a family beyond Morgana; he’s reminiscent of Han Solo throughout the season. I can’t wait to see where Terrell takes Arthur in the future should the show return for season 2, something that, despite my criticisms, I’d very much like to see.

As previously stated, I’m a big fan of Tom Wheeler and was excited to see him take on the Arthurian legends. For the most part, he doesn’t disappoint;  I just wish Cursed had a bit more of a streamlined narrative, as its disjointed nature brings the whole affair down. However, I love that he continued a tradition of marking the act breaks with something special, much like he did with The Cape; in this case, it’s Frank Milleresque art. It gives Cursed a distinct calling card and allows them to capitalize on Miller’s style beyond the aesthetic that permeates the show, especially towards the end of the pilot. In interviews for the book on which the show is based, Wheeler mentioned that, despite their pedigree in the industry, both he and Miller – the latter of whom was influenced by the work of Arthur Rackham – were dubious about the prospect of a TV show, even with Netflix requesting the rights multiple times, preferring to focus on the book. I’m glad they took this shot, but if they’re going to go further with the story, I hope they construct a tighter narrative.

Cursed has a lot going for it, with great performances, the Frank Miller aesthetic, and an intriguing vision for one of the lesser-known figures in Arthurian mythology. Unfortunately, it’s dragged down by severe pacing issues and an over-reliance on needless subversion. If season 2 is to become a reality, the producers need to take a hard look at what their overall goals are for the series and focus less on subverting expectations.