The Nautilus’ Episode 1 Review
A show that might have escaped your attention recently is ‘Nautilus’, a new ten-part series that has just been released.
The show is based on the works of Jules Verne, and features the character of Captain Nemo (Shazad Latif), who appears in stories such as ‘Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea’. He steals The Nautilus, an experimental submarine built by the East India Mercantile Company, going on the run from the powerful corporation.
I think it’s fair to say this wasn’t on anyone’s radar as a must-see show for 2024. It’s been something of a hard sell, as it was originally intended for Disney+ before they changed their mind, leaving it to AMC Network in the US, and Amazon Prime Video in the UK. There hasn’t been much effort put into marketing it either, and the first I heard was when the trailer released a few weeks ago. As a result, I had no idea what to expect from the show and after seeing the first episode, I’m still not sure.
One thing’s for sure, there’s a lot of action in it. Almost immediately the episode turns into a big fight scene between the EIMC guards and their prisoners, as Nemo leads a rebellion to escape aboard the Nautilus. It’s all done in the modern “shoot ‘em up” style, with plenty of explosions and machine guns. The action the main focus of the show so far, as none of the characters are really going to get your attention.
The main ‘hero’s Nemo is unlikable, argumentative, lying to his friends, and seeming to care little about what his fellow escapees might want, though he does appear to have a backstory that will hopefully give a reason for his demeanour. I’m not familiar with Verne’s novels, but from what I understand, he’s something of a loose cannon, fiercely anti-imperialist, believing that below the waves, he’s his own master and has no one to answer to.
The other characters are either equally unlikable, or else have very little personality above a few stock traits. Part of this is probably due to the fact that so many are introduced in this one episode, meaning any chance of getting to know them is lost in the rush to bring them onto the screen. With any luck, we’ll be given some reason to connect with them in future episodes.
One group of characters I don’t have such hope for is the villains, who are all straight cut cartoon characters, evil, greedy, and ruthless. I’m not against a good old-fashioned bad guy, but they need to feel genuinely threatening to work, which I’m not feeling.
There are a lot of historical inaccuracies and scientific impossibilities on display here too. I get that this show is going for more of an adventure thrill ride, which I’d be fine with, if only it was more fun. As it is, you get a show that sits in an uncomfortable middle ground, neither a serious look at British imperialism, nor an outright bit of pulp fiction.
The first episode if ‘Nautilus’ hasn’t hooked me, which is maybe the reason why Amazon dropped all ten of them at once, if it’s more of a binge watch. The episode ended on a cliffhanger, but really, I’m not feeling any desire to keep watching. Streaming shows often do a bad job of kicking things off with their premiere, and there’s a good chance it will need a couple of episodes to find its stride. We shall just have to see.