The Artful Dodger
RobRoy > February 26th, 2024, 02:34 PM
To be fair, I have a real soft spot for period pieces, especially when they're based on previous works. The Artful Dodger caught my interest a few weeks ago, but slipped from my watch list until this past week when I binged the whole series (8 episodes for season 1) over two days.
While I've certainly seen better, this series is right up near the top of the list. Just a fantastic cast and plotting that works so well. The language is certainly not true to Dickens, but the characters feel very in line with the old master's spirit. Presenting a "what if" scenario after the events of Oliver Twist, Jack Dawkins - aka the Artful Dodger - finds himself in Australia, practicing as a surgeon. This is not a wholly implausible vision for the former pickpocket, as the series lays out a plausible path. Of course, he can't quite seem to stay out of trouble, and with the arrival of his former caretaker/abuser Fagin, things go from bad to worse, but in the most delightful ways.
The casting of this show is simple perfection. The wonderfully fun Thomas Brodie-Sangster continues to shine as the titular Dodger balanced against an always smiling/scheming David Thewlis as Fagin, and mixed in with the somewhat anachronistic, but still lovable Maia Mitchell's Lady Belle Fox.
I haven't seen that a season 2 has been greenlit, although the first season wraps up well enough that while this series deserves more installments, you won't find yourself left out to hang, as it were.
I watched the show on Hulu.