I’m rewatching Taboo, the Tom Hardy show on FX. Most people know it as that grim, slow period piece with a lot of grunting. Which… well, it is that.

But here’s the thing: this show is packed with information. More happens here than in most shows. It’s not slow. It’s methodical. It has pacint. And why be intimidated? I mean… have you ever read a book?

Taboo is about a power vacuum. The plot is just the container: a piece of land called Nootka Sound. To most people, it’s a worthless swamp, but the Crown wants it, America wants it—it’s a vital key. The island is almost irrelevant. What matters is the situation it creates. This is a story about how different forces respond to that vacuum.

Stories have layers, and Taboo nails four of them. First, the overall story: it’s the system itself. Trade routes, legal contracts, cold murder. The machine of empire. Then you have the main character, James Delaney, played by Tom Hardy. He’s back for revenge. What’s fascinating is he knows. He remembers everything. Everyone else has moved on—he refuses. He takes this haunted knowledge and weaponizes it.

The impact character isn’t a person, really. It’s the East India Company. This isn’t a romance. It’s about philosophy. The conflict with Delaney isn’t interpersonal; it’s two operating systems crashing. Think The Fifth Element—the hero and the villain never meet, but they’re fighting the whole time. That’s Delaney and the Company.

Delaney is pure id in a world of protocol. You don’t need his backstory spelled out. You feel his rage in every scene. He has a plan. That’s why the pacing feels tense, and not slow (at least to me), because you’re watching a siege in real time. The Company represents institutional power: ledgers, treaties, belief in the system. Delaney’s power is psychological: memory, reputation, sheer will. People try to bargain with him, to find his leverage. But he can’t be leveraged. His power is completely internal. Maybe to an unrealistic degree, but there you go.

And you get this clash: the fortress vs. the siege engine. The fortress looks solid, unshakable from the outside. But the siege engine only has to win once.

You’re watching a ruthless, methodical argument about where power lives.

And honestly it’s fun to watch.