In the ‘Taboo’ recap for the season finale, James Delaney makes his final moves as he goes up against the crown and the East India Company…
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
The idea behind ‘Taboo’ actually started as a single character in the mind of star Tom Hardy.
It all started after Hardy portrayed the part of Bill Sikes in the BBC adaptation of ‘Oliver Twist’ and from there the concept behind James Keziah Delaney was born. At the time, Hardy didn’t know much about the character outside of a sketch he doodled and a name that struck a chord with him.
Before long, Hardy handed over James Delaney to his father and his friend Steven Knight, who he had worked with on the popular series ‘Peaky Blinders’ and before long the show ‘Taboo’ started to come together.
The chance to work with his dad and writer/producer that he liked and trusted was a dream project for Hardy not to mention doing it all on television meant that he would have more time to tell a story rather than compacting everything down into two hours on film. Imagine the complexities and nuances from ‘Taboo’ that would have been lost in a feature film.
Some stories are meant for the big screen. ‘Taboo’ was made for television.
Once Hardy’s father and Knight put together the story, he was on board to make the project and an eight-episode limited series was produced with a beginning, middle and end. Except for one problem as it’s surely been noted by the season finale that aired Tuesday night on FX.
This didn’t feel like the end.
Instead as James Delaney and the crew aboard his new ship sailed for an island in the middle of the Atlantic, it appeared much more as one chapter ending and another about to begin. Now this is purely speculation at this point considering neither FX (the American distributor) nor the BBC (from the British side) have made any declarations about the future of ‘Taboo’ but just like James Delaney was resurrected after being long though dead, something tells me this series is far from finished.
With that said, let’s recap the season finale of ‘Taboo’ titled ‘Episode 8’….
In the Muddy Waters
As the episode opens, Zilpha Geary stands atop a bridge as she laments about a life spent trapped in captivity and she wants to slip between the bars of her cell into a world where she can go free. This place is where she hopes she can reunite with her brother one day but until then at least she won’t be contained any longer.
And then Zilpha jumps into the murky water below.
From Zilpha’s suicide we immediately shift into the Tower of London where James Delaney receives his visit from Sir Stuart Strange as part of his agreement to give up the American conspirators as part of his trial for treason. Strange isn’t sure why Delaney wants to see him considering the East India Company man believes he’s finally gotten the better of his foe after taking the short end of the stick ever since he arrived back in England.
But Delaney still has a few more cards to play and that includes the “confession” he’s currently writing as part of his testimony. James informs Strange that he’s writing out a testimony about the East India Company ordering him and several other boys to participate in the loading of slaves on board the Cornwallis before the name was changed to the Influence.
To add to the blackmail, James also knows first hand that the flags on the ship were changed from that of the East India Company to those from England, which means Strange was transporting slaves under the auspice of the British government. In other words, Strange committed treason by using those flags.
So Delaney offers Strange a compromise — he will withdraw his testimony and Godfrey — the former minutes taker from the East India Company — will do the same. In exchange, Strange will complete several tasks for him but at the top of the list is providing him a ship for the one he blew up. Strange’s tasks will also include withdrawing the East India Company’s claims of treason against him, which will allow James to go free.
As James is finishing his work in the Tower of London, Robert — who is either his son or his brother, we never find out for certain — unlocks the safe in the Delaney house with the key he was given in last week’s episode. Robert grabs the letters and delivers through throughout town to Brace, Atticus and Cholmondeley.
With instructions doled out, Delaney’s final plan kicks into action.
Retribution
As part of his agreement with Strange, the East India Company sends Pettifer to retrieve Helga and her girl, who had agreed to testify before the crown to attest to James’ committing treason by manufacturing gunpowder and then selling it to the colonists in the United States of America. To ensure that James is set free, Helga and her girl have to disappear but before Pettifer can get very far with them, Atticus storms the carriage and takes the women for himself.
Pettifer pleads with Atticus that he has an agreement with Delaney but a bullet in his head says different.
Atticus then informs Helga that James didn’t kill Winter and he has proof. In the carriage he’s provided sits Lorna Bow and the little boy she talked to last week who witnessed men from the East India Company kill Winter while James was passed out drunk in the mud. With this information confirmed, Helga rejoins Team Delaney while obviously recounting her tales of treason.
Lorna’s work isn’t done because her next journey takes her to the residence of Countess Musgrove aka Carlsbad — the British socialite doubling as an American spy. Lorna informs Musgrove that the deal to deliver the gunpowder is still happening and she needs to pass along a message to “Colonnade” that the leak inside the American spy network will be handled personally by Mr. Delaney.
As a reward, Countess Musgrove gives James and his crew safe passage to the United States.
Colonnade is a word we’ve heard a couple of times this season — perhaps a power broker in the war between the Americans and the British — and his name will come up later in the episode as well so stay tuned for that.
Back at the Tower of London, Solomon Coop finally gets his meeting with James Delaney, who is supposed to divulge the co-conspirators helping him in England to get the gunpowder to the Americans. Of course this all happens after James cuts himself and buys some time with a medic attending to him so Strange can finish all the tasks he’s been given. With a signal from his boy Robert outside the prison, James knows it’s finally time to go before the crown to make his confession.
Finally, James sits down but when he’s asked about his co-conspirators he has no memory of ever doing anything wrong. He didn’t make or sell gunpowder for the Americans and there’s no proof that he was ever involved either. With the East India Company withdrawing their claims as well as Helga and her girl gone missing, they have no means to hold Delaney in custody any longer.
Meanwhile, Robert delivers one more letter to George Chichester with a declaration from James Delaney that he will no longer be testifying against Stuart Strange and neither will Godfrey. Chichester is livid and he storms into Strange’s office, but the smug executive laughs in his face because he’s now free from his own case of treason while also knowing that Delaney followed through on his part of the bargain.
With that, Strange diverts a ship called the ‘Good Hope’ to a port near town that will be left with a skeleton crew and provisions for 15 people for a two-month journey. This will be the new ship for the Delaney-Nootka Trading Company as per his deal with Strange.
Declaration of War
Following James’ release from prison, he goes home and finds a suicide not left for him by Zilpha. He’s clearly crushed but also can’t believe that his sister is truly gone and he didn’t feel her death in his bones. The relationship he shared with Zilpha was so close that Delaney truly believed that he’d know deep down if she was gone.
James is devastated by the news but Lorna has to snap him out of his funk because he’s set a plan in motion and now people are depending on him to deliver. James finally wakes from his shock induced slumber and tells Lorna to prepare because he will be back in one hour to get her and they will board the ship together.
While Lorna and the others make preparations to go to the ship, James makes one final stop to see his old friend Dumbarton at the hospital. James doesn’t confront him as a friend this time but an enemy. It turns out Dumbarton was the double agent who was selling out the American interests to the East India Company this entire time. All of the information Stuart Strange was told about Delaney’s plans came from Dumbarton.
In a final insult before he can leave England, Dumbarton presents James with a deed to Nootka Sound that he must sign before the ship and everything else will be turned over to him. This was Strange’s ace in the hole but he certainly underestimated Delaney’s own volatility. A second after seeing the deed, James slams Dumbarton’s face into the desk, before drowning him in a vat of the dye he made inside the hospital.
When we last see Dumbarton, he’s been dyed red, white and blue with his guts hanging out and the deed pinned to his chest — signs that he was working with the Americans as well as the East India Company.
James begins his journey back to the ship but his trip won’t be without a few obstacles after Solomon Coop tells the Prince Regent that their prisoner has been freed and no charges of treason will stick. The Prince Regent erupts and says that he’s sick and tired of James Delaney getting over on them so he orders the British forces to kill him even if that means the Nootka Sound will be handed over to the Americans.
The British just declared war on James Delaney.
The Americans
While the ‘Good Hope’ has been prepped for the journey ahead, Atticus and his men have been setting up a trap for the oncoming attack from the British soldiers. Along with some help from Cholmondeley with some explosives, when the army arrives, they blow up a pair of kegs of gunpowder and kill several soldiers in one fell swoop. As the gunfire begins, more British garrisons arrive and a massive fight breaks out between the army and Delaney’s ‘League of the Damned’.
Amidst the battle, Helga is shot and killed as she attempts to board the ship and even Lorna takes a bullet in the arm. Cholmondeley has one of his explosives backfire and blow up in his face while several of Atticus’ men are killed during the fire fight. After an intense back and forth gun battle, James and Atticus finally make it on board while dragging Cholmondeley with them as he clings to life.
The ship sets sail as the British soldiers fire away but have no chance to capture them.
Meanwhile, back at the East India Company Stuart Strange receives a package that’s marked from Dr. Dumbarton and he believes he’s finally received the spoils from war. Unfortunately, Strange once again underestimated James Delaney because when he opens the package, a loud explosion rings out and the windows in the office burst out. Of course we never see if Stuart Strange is actually dead or not so that’s another possible key to a second season of ‘Taboo’.
As for George Chichester, he arrives at the Delaney house after receiving a second letter from James. Inside, Chichester finds Brace, who was left behind by Delaney because he says he wasn’t meant for this journey. Instead, Brace has been given the entire Delaney holdings in England along with the house for his safekeeping.
Upstairs, Chichester finds his final gift from Delaney — a testimony written out from James and Godfrey attesting to the East India Company’s involvement in the slave trade. Chichester cracks a smile and says ‘justice’ after finally getting the better of Stuart Strange and the East India Company.
And on the Good Hope, James checks on Lorna, who is resting and recovering from her gunshot wound. The connection between these two grew all season long and perhaps more will unfold if we revisit them in a second season. Cholmondeley is being tended to by Godfrey as the crew hits the open sea.
Up top, Delaney tells Atticus to set a course for Ponta Delgada in the Azores — a small island in the middle of the Atlantic. There he plans to see a man named Collanade. When Atticus questions Delaney about this journey to the United States and the gunpowder they produced for the Americans, he receives an immediate answer.
“We are Americans,” Delaney says.
The British flag on the ship is pulled down and replaced by the stars and stripes of the United States of America. A cliffhanger when we don’t know for certain if we are going to get a second season.
Will ‘Taboo’ return? Time will only tell…
Thanks for reading all the recaps this season for ‘Taboo’ on Nerdcore Movement and don’t forget to check out a plethora of other recaps for series such as ‘Bates Motel’, ‘The Walking Dead’ and many more.
