Bodies Series Review (Netflix) The plot is intense with four eras, but the story’s secrets are not fresh.

Bodies Limited series on Netflix, 8 episodes, from the United Kingdom. The story of 4 detectives in 4 different eras and a mysterious case that connects all 4 time periods. When each of them has to investigate a murder case with a body found in a small alley, where everyone has the same wounds.

Bodies Series Review Netflix (No Spoiler)

The series is from Paul Tomalin , a creator with a fresh face, but with prior writing experience. In this story, he employs a sci-fi time plot, encompassing all four eras simultaneously, starting from 1890, 1941, 2023, and the future year 2053. Each of these time periods features different characters, each with their unique main storyline. Even though everyone is investigating the same case, their narratives diverge.

Due to the distinctiveness of each era’s storyline and location, the ensemble cast of all four eras becomes a central and captivating element. It’s as if we’ve watched four different movies with the same murder case, leaving viewers wondering how these four eras are connected. However, it must be said that narrating all four storylines simultaneously is no easy feat, as it requires constant back-and-forth time jumps, making it quite confusing. The characters are all entirely different, with an attempt to inject the individual characters’ life problems in each era. The storytelling emphasizes adding mystery for viewers to ponder, but in the first three to four episodes, although the plot is intriguing and worth following, the storytelling is not as smooth as it should be.

But when the series unravels the mystery that ties all four eras together, starting from episode 4 onwards, it can be considered the resolution of the enigmatic elements introduced in the initial episodes. However, it’s a secret that everyone can easily guess, with a 100% certainty, as it’s not entirely novel. Yet, the advantage is that once this secret is revealed, the series becomes much smoother in storytelling and enjoyable in the latter part, as it shifts from the initial puzzlement. In the later episodes, the narrative flows more seamlessly and is more fun compared to the first half, which is filled with clear-cut mysteries. The storytelling takes a somewhat familiar approach, backtracking to various events but with subtle differences, until it ultimately clears up the storyline beautifully. It combines elements of drama and a bit of sci-fi, which is the series’ most notable feature.

All the actors performed well in their respective roles. Amaka Okafor portrayed a Muslim female detective in the present-day, serving as the central character connecting the entire narrative. She effectively embodied the image of a Muslim detective with a hijab throughout. On the other hand, Kyle Soller played a detective from the 1890s when investigative methods were not as advanced, and there were stringent laws against homosexuality in that era, leading to immense societal prejudice. It was a time when the character faced the most severe oppression.

In the 1941 era, Jacob Fortune-Lloyd เ portrayed a corrupt police officer entangled in the web of serving influential individuals. The plot presented an internal conflict as he had to carry out his first killing job a young girl of 11 age.

For the future, set in 2053, Shira Haas played the role of a physically disabled female police officer, equipped with advanced tools attached to her body. She worked as an obedient officer without any objections, resembling a robotic law enforcement entity in that era.

 

In terms of production quality, all four eras used London as the location, but the outcome varied significantly according to the era, Which, for the most part, turned out well. However, high-tech devices in the future era may not look as realistic as in serious sci-fi series. Even things like police cars still appear quite ordinary, as well as various other high-tech gadgets

In summary, this 8-episode series in the sci-fi genre spanning four eras is worth watching. Although the initial episodes presented the main plot in a somewhat confusing manner, once the mysteries were unraveled after the first four episodes, the story flowed smoothly, neatly resolving all the introduced mysteries. The character development for all four protagonists was deep and well-executed, seamlessly blending with the sci-fi elements. However, it must be acknowledged that the series did not bring entirely novel ideas to the table as initially anticipated.

 

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