Commentary: ‘Furious’ Minimizes Its Message With Cartoon Villainy
by Frank Martin
Furious is a show that touches upon extremely serious subject matter. Its themes are so triggering and distressing that there’s a public service message at the end of every episode. It deals with sexual assault as well as domestic violence and even juvenile human trafficking. These are important topics and the show does not shy away from them. There are multiple villains in the story, some of which are foils for real life. However, one such villain — arguably the main villain of the series — is portrayed in such over-the-top fashion that he comes off almost cartoonish in nature. In doing so, it minimizes the program’s powerful message and undermines its important ideas.
— Spoilers Follow —
The story ultimately follows two women, an FBI agent named Alice (Emmy Rossum) and a serial killer she’s chasing, Catherine (Lola Petticrew), who was sex trafficked as a minor. During a horrible night, Catherine’s best friend died and now she seeks revenge on everyone involved. Over the course of the series, Alice discovers the fateful night took place in a house owned by Jay Easton (Peter McRobbie), an extremely wealthy pedophile addicted to abusing young girls. Alice ends up stopping Catherine, but upon learning that Easton was also responsible for her own abuse, the federal agent decides to euthanize the frail and terminally-ill old man.
It shouldn’t come as any surprise that Jay Easton is a representation of a billionaire class that has been abusing young women for far too long. All the show’s anger and fury about this subject is funneled into his character, which climaxes when Alice ends his life. But Easton does not come off as a powerful force to be feared. Instead, his depravity appears goofy and hokey. It’s comical and pathetic just how much his addiction has taken over his life and warped his mind. His character is so over-the-top that it it serves as a distraction from the heinous things he’s done. Perhaps the show did not want to portray him as having any sort of power, but the way he behaves detracts from what is a very real and awful aspect of the world.
Furious is now streaming on Hulu.
