TV Review: Hulu's “Furious” is the Must-Watch Gripping New Thriller of the Summer

Hulu's Furious has several obvious sources of inspiration; creator and executive producer Elizabeth Meriwether (The Dropout, Dying for Sex) credits the 1987 20th Century Fox film Black Widow, but current events are just as much at the show's core. It's a gripping, addictive eight-part limited series that throws new twists at every turn, the kind of show where the old idiom "hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" keeps coming to mind.

Alice Black (Emmy Rossum, Genius) recently left the NYPD to work for the FBI as a lowly duty agent, aspiring to land in the undesirable sex crimes division. Her former cop partner, Danny Kelly (Scoot McNairy, Nightbitch), pulls her into a high-profile case: a deadly drug overdose that turns out to be one of several similar deaths tied to seemingly unrelated men. The NYPD and FBI are forced to collaborate, which finally gets Alice into sex crimes, but also teams her back up with her ex, Jake Lacy (Hulu’s High Fidelity), forcing her to confront their traumatic past.

Alice is the clear lead, but Furious spends roughly a third of its runtime with the killer she's hunting: a young woman constantly changing aliases, played by Lola Petticrew (Say Nothing). Trafficked as a teenager, she's given up on a world that never made room for her. She has scores to settle and repressed memories to unlock, and following her thread is just as exhilarating as following Alice's.

For all its trauma, Furious strikes a surprisingly light tone. The core cast finds ways to defuse the tension throughout, and the supporting players — Rob Delaney (Peter in Marvel's Deadpool franchise), Steve Way (Ramy), Nicholas Podany (Saturday Night), and Chloe Troast (Saturday Night Live) — contribute standout comic moments.

Every performance here is award-contention strong, but the standout for me is Quincy Tyler Bernstine (Power) as Nora Washington, Alice's boss in the FBI's sex crimes division. Cynical and condescending on the surface, she reveals a well-intentioned heart of gold underneath. She also has a poignant fascination with Greek mythology that adds more depth to the show’s title.

Alice, Nora, and the name-changing killer form a throughline: three women fighting for a place in a world that wasn't built for them. Nora's been at it the longest and has mostly made peace with how things are; Alice remains an optimist despite everything she's endured; and the killer has decided there's only one form of justice that will satisfy her. It's the biggest theme in the show, and the one that stays with you longest.

The art direction matches that ambition. Set against a grimy, greige New York, color is used almost exclusively in the killer's world — a sparkly sequined bag, sticker-covered accessories — giving the darkest character in the show the illusion of being the most fun. Color functions like a band-aid over a wound, a subliminal theme keen-eyed viewers will pick up on.

Furious balances heavy, complicated narratives in a way that never feels like a slog. Each episode peels back more of its characters' lives, and the show keeps surprising you even when you think you've got it figured out. Everyone will be talking about Furious.

5 out of 5 stars.

Furious premieres Monday, July 27th, with three episodes on Hulu. New episodes drop every Monday through August 31st.