![]() Africa was, indeed, good to him.) And why, oh why, Strange wonders “would he defy reason and the crown?” Seems pretty obvious, doesn’t it? It’s “the fucking Americans!” Strange explodes at the camera. And where did he get the money to buy a ship? (The answer is that the bag Delaney unearthed on the hillside was filled with enough raw diamonds to buy a generous portion of the East India’s fleet. He copes by incessantly rapping his cane, and berating his hapless minions with rhetorical questions, like why he wouldn’t Delaney even consider their offer? How did he know about the border negotiations-the location in Ghent was supposed to be a state secret. The revelation that Delaney plans to use Nootka for trade sends the company man into a tizzy, and he drops the first F bomb of many in the episode (Really, where are the censors on this show?), as well as the first of many threats to be lodged against our leading man in the span of an hour.Īs expected, Strange isn’t pleased by this plot development. “That fucking man will hang for treason!,” our swiney friend cries after the sale. After a flurry of bidding, Delaney throws down 800 pounds to buy the ship, which he claims in the name of the newly minted Delaney Nootka Trading Company. The swiney fellow from the East India’s archives department is there, and the first ship up for sale is a merchantman brig called the Felice Aventurero, which we are told was commandeered from a Spanish fleet. Each item, in this case ships, are auctioned only for the amount of time it takes for a tall candle to burn down one inch, leaving the bidder at the end of the allotted time as the winner. ![]() History Lesson #1: British Markets Welcome to what’s known as a “candle auction.” I’ve been to many auctions in my day, from art to livestock, but a candle auction seems like a special, tedious kind hell. Delaney can feel the threat level rising, and so for much of episode two we find him hot on the trail of his killer(s), and taking strategic steps to collect on his inheritance in ways that will surely stick it to the East India. Our protagonist has only just buried one murdered family member, and already the prospects of another one dead are on the horizon. “You’ve no problem with the principle of obeying me,” he says, “Just the execution…of Delaney.” The paper, he explains, is his minion’s post-dated termination from the East India, rendered null and void only if he completes the tall task of overseeing Delaney’s assassination. Taking extra care to blow dry the ink on the page, he crumples it in his hands and tosses it on the floor. Our story opens at the East India Company’s headquarters, with the villainous Sir Stuart Strange penning a note at his desk, accompanied by the minion from the company’s Africa division. This week, Delaney’s adventures really get rolling, we meet several new and important characters and our hero escapes death for now-or does he? ![]() In episode two of FX’s gloomy history-filled murder-mystery, Hardy blossoms as Delaney, bringing forth all the best aspects of his tortured character, from a playful compulsion for riddles to socially awkward tics and a gait so elephantine it’s comical. He rides a white steed, he struts around London’s muddy docks with the swagger of a man who has bags of diamonds to spare and he dresses like a man of the Night’s Watch who has been given a 19th century wardrobe update that could be straight from the Gothic fashion collections of Yohji Yamamoto. I’m becoming quite fond of James Keziah Delaney. Stephen Graham as Atticus and Tom Hardy as James Keziah Delaney in Episode 2 of FX’s Taboo. ![]()
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