Nautilus
If you are a fan of British comedy if I were to randomly yell at you "Yes, I can hear you Clem Fandango!" you would hopefully laugh and then become my new best friend. The name Clem Fandango brings joy into the world. And the echoes of Matt Berry as Steven Toast screaming. Shazad Latif is Clem Fandango. Because, while he has been wonderful in so many shows, big shout-out to Penny Dreadful, I will forever refer to him as Clem Fandango. And yes, it has to be his full name. First and last, not just Clem not just Fandango. The whole Clem Fandango. Anyway, for this I will try to refer to Shazad Latif by his real name and even if I didn't I could totally cut and paste his name over my typing Clem Fandango before I posted this and you would never know the difference. What all this is in aid of is that because of my love for Shazad Latif I have been waiting for Nautilus for what seems like forever. This was a show in limbo. They finished filming over two years ago when it was going to be on Disney+. Dinsney+ shelved it because apparently that's what you do to make a buck these days, look to The Spiderwick Chronicles. A tax write-off is more valuable than quality entertainment. Then Amazon bought it and I was excited, because that meant to was totally, finally going to be released, and then nope. They weren't going to be distributing it. Finally it was announced that AMC+ had acquired it and that it would totally be coming out soon. Like the beginning of 2025 at the latest. January came and went, winter turned to spring and finally, FINALLY Sunday, June 29th, 2025 could be marked on my calendar as the day I could finally see this show I've waited for for so long. And, I don't know what I was expecting, perhaps something along the lines of The Librarians, a cheesy but fun show that had a stacked list of guest stars but was overall just a nice way to spend an evening. In other words, due to other recent H.G. Wells adaptations, yes, I'm looking at you Around the World in 80 Days with your white savior complex, and PTSD from seeing The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen in theaters, TWICE, over twenty years ago, I mentally set the bar very low. Which means I wasn't just impressed, I was blown away. I don't know if such a thrilling and modern adventure series with such high production values and incredible acting has ever been made like this. I didn't just enjoy the show, the weekly cliffhangers that reminded me of the best in serial storytelling made me wait with baited breath for each new installment. What's more, this is for an audience with modern sensibilities, IE, there is no white savior complex here. The cast made up of characters who were literally slaves and are almost exclusively minorities, save themselves and then set about to destroy their oppressors. And who were historically the worst oppressors? The East India Company! Down with that sort of thing! Bonus points if you know which British comedy that comes from. Nautilus is just such a wonderful show about survival versus domination and exploration versus destruction. It also examines what riches mean to those who were oppressed; freedom, safety, and, in the end, it can mean vengeance. There are so many levels on which this show works, but what I was left with most was wonder. There was a childlike wonder this show brought about in me. Dare I say that this show gave me hope? I dare say it did. It also brought me joy. Or, as others might say, Clem Fandango!
Post a Comment