THE WHEDON IMPRINT
The Nevers brings controversial creator's greatest hits to an eerie Victorian London
It takes a minute for The Nevers to feel like something other than a steampunk Doctor Who interlude in Victorian London where, despite stubbornly buttoned-up appearances, things aren't quite as they seem.
The new drama, which follows a group of women “touched” by some mysterious power that grants them extraordinary abilities, unabashedly embraces its cross-section of genres. It's a historical drama awash in lush costuming and production design. It's a sci-fi epic unravelling the mysteries of the universe. It's a screwball comedy and Harlequin romance starring quick-witted heroines, surly detectives and devastatingly handsome heirs. Even when it errs toward the silly, it's fun and twisty enough to be an engaging page-turner of a show that should grow its own fan base without much trouble.
Somewhat overshadowing the actual text, however, is the fraught fact that the series parted ways with creator Joss Whedon last fall, after Justice League actor Ray Fisher accused him of workplace misconduct and before Buffy the Vampire Slayer star Charisma Carpenter alleged the same. (The second half of the new series' first season, airing at an undetermined later time, is produced entirely without him under new showrunner Philippa Goslett.)
As someone who has alternately followed, admired and been disappointed by Whedon and his work, I went into The Nevers wanting to judge it separately from the controversies surrounding its creator. But after sampling the first episode, written and directed by Whedon, it was clear that separating the artist from the art in this instance would prove impossible. Despite distancing itself from Whedon in retrospect, Nevers bears so many of his narrative and stylistic hallmarks that it might as well be playing Whedon Bingo, for better and for worse.
The series kicks into high gear three years after a mysterious cosmic event bestows special abilities upon hundreds of women and girls (plus a few random men), causing a volatile mix of confusion, fear, intrigue and horror.
While many of the “Touched” are left to deal with their sudden new powers on their own, others have found solidarity and community in each other. For one, taciturn Amalia True (Laura Donnelly) and friendly Penance Adair (Ann Skelly) have opened an “orphanage” for Touched women and girls, where they can all (ostensibly) take refuge from prying eyes and those determined to snuff the strange new phenomenon out for good. And since no two Touched people appear to have the same abilities, Nevers gets plenty of leeway for going down different inventive avenues with its deep bench of characters.
Amalia, for instance, can see blips of the near future, while Penance can see and interpret
energy in a way that fuels her advanced inventions. One can turn anything into glass, while another shatters anything she touches.
It's a world rich with compelling characters, narrative possibilities and actors up to the task of making their parts sing. Donnelly and Skelly are especially good as the show's central odd couple, their friendship anchoring Nevers as its mysteries unfurl and the stakes get impossibly high.
Those familiar with Whedon's work will recognize much. Most obviously, Nevers includes many imperilled women who are either headstrong or helpless, depending on the day. It also shares much of its DNA with Whedon's short-lived space epic Firefly, from its steampunk esthetics to its gruff leader and resident quirky fixer-upper.
The central conceit of the Touched directly echoes Buffy's powerful “Chosen” women. The business angle of recruiting vulnerable women comes straight from Dollhouse, as does Dollhouse star Olivia Williams in the role of the orphanage's benefactor. Even Amalia's frequent fight scenes include unmistakable parallels to those of Whedon's Black Widow in his Avengers movies. And as with just about all the Whedon properties, characters of colour mostly play small supporting roles.
For as much as Nevers might try to divorce itself from Whedon amid his ongoing controversies, there's no denying he's all over it — and that, in many instances, his approach is effective.
It's also undeniable that its vision and characters are ones Whedon has used before, over and over again, often with diminishing returns. But it's interesting, to say the least, to watch a show so obviously borne of its creator and know that it will soon be forging ahead without him.