Anne Rice’s Talamasca: The Secret Order Season 1 Review

The archetypal 2 episodes of Anne Rice’s Talamasca: The Secret Order premiere October 26 connected AMC and AMC+, with the remainder of the bid dropping play aft that.

Anne Rice fans mislaid their gothic fearfulness leader with her passing successful 2021, but astatine slightest they’ve been capable to bask a Rice-essance happening astatine AMC. The Anne Rice Immortal Universe, based connected the writer’s mythology and books, launched successful 2022 with the exceptional Interview With the Vampire series. In 2023, determination was the little satisfying Anne Rice's Mayfair Witches series. And present from showrunner/creator John Lee Hancock (Saving Mr. Banks) is Anne Rice’s Talamasca: The Secret Order, an absorbing instrumentality connected the satellite that presents the intrigues of the shadowy Talamasca arsenic a supernatural-infused spy thriller. What that radical is and however it operates is experienced done the eyes of precocious recruited outsider Guy Anatole (Nicholas Denton) who ably navigates america done this taut, unpredictable enigma arsenic a uncommon leader to basal for successful this morally grey universe.

Set successful modern New York and London, Talamasca: The Secret Order exists wrong the connective insubstantial already established by the anterior series. Cribbing from Buffy the Vampire Slayer terminology, the Talamasca is overmuch similar the Watchers' Council. Here, the Talamasca extends its power done “motherhouses” astir the globe wherever their agents probe and show the supernatural world, peculiarly vampires, witches, and demons. As needed, it maintains bid and protects civilians, benignant of similar a supernatural CIA. The New York location is tally by the enigmatic Helen (Elizabeth McGovern) who has taken it upon herself to covertly show absorption astatine the London house. When a bloody eyeball and a enactment saying “We spot you” ends up connected her desk, she instantly sets retired to enlistee an “off book” caller look to assistance her infiltrate that installation for a person look.

Enter Guy, a broke but superb caller NYU instrumentality schoolhouse grad interviewing for his archetypal job. Guy besides has secrets, arsenic he’s spent astir of his beingness hiding his often achy clairvoyance powers by existing isolated from the masses arsenic overmuch arsenic possible. As it turns out, he’s agelong been connected Helen’s radar, and she yet appears successful his beingness to connection him a robust salaried occupation wrong the Talamasca arsenic said London tract agent. Her connection besides confirms the disquieting information that the satellite harbors supernatural creatures, and Guy’s quality to work minds makes him exceptionally well-positioned (with immoderate training) to straddle some worlds. She’s been his unseen “Auntie Xavier” for astir of his life, curating opportunities to hole him for this precise moment. Too atrocious he’s uninterested until she dangles the carrot that his agelong dormant parent is so not, truthful helium takes the gig intending to usage the Talamasca’s resources to find mom.

A bid similar this lives oregon dies based connected however good the assemblage responds to Guy, truthful the AMC powers-that-be merit a pat connected the backmost for choosing Denton, a knockout prime to transportation the series. He instantly finds a saccharine spot for Guy, balancing sympathetic food retired of h2o vibes with a shrewd consciousness of however to leverage his powers and smarts to enactment afloat. Disarmingly relatable from the start, Denton’s Guy is susceptible but ne'er anserine arsenic helium gauges person oregon foe presumption with everyone helium meets. He’s besides got large chemistry with everyone successful the ensemble, peculiarly McGovern’s Helen who keeps him, and us, guessing astir her existent motives.

Another positive for this bid is that Guy’s arc and communicative is original. Having nary transportation to the books unburdens the assemblage from carrying immoderate existing expectations into Talamasca: The Secret Order. Unlike the different 2 series, each twist, crook and revelation present is simply a astonishment to acquisition arsenic it happens. And pre-existing cognition of the different bid is besides unnecessary to afloat bask what unfolds, a rarity with interconnected universes these days. However, if you do cognize Rice’s satellite oregon the different shows, you’re rewarded with utile mythology enlargement and well-placed cameos from Eric Bogosian’s Daniel Molloy and Justin Kirk’s Raglan James.

In the pilot, which Hancock wrote and directed, helium establishes a Three Days of the Condor vibe for the series, but that’s dampened successful Episode 2 and aft by the wide fund constraints overall. The Secret Order is obscurity adjacent arsenic richly production-designed arsenic Interview With the Vampire, alternatively utilizing Manchester, England arsenic a accumulation stand-in for London. As a result, the occurrence directors person to usage a batch of choky shots and angled frames to cheat the locales. However, that smaller position services the increasing claustrophobia that comes with Guy’s tightly maintained footprint adjacent the London motherhouse.

Nicholas Denton stars arsenic Guy Anatole successful Talamasca: The Secret Order.

In counterpoint, determination is an appreciated assortment to the supernatural representation, with Guy encountering a spectrum of grounded witches, vampires and humans who aren’t conscionable simple, monolithic representations of their kind. Jason Schwartzman is precise overmuch invited arsenic the past vampire Burton, who concisely tutors Guy astir the rules and motivations of his kind. He doesn’t bent retired agelong enough. But that leaves much abstraction for William Fichtner’s Jasper, a savvy and alternatively terrifying vampire with ambitions that commingle with Guy’s implicit time. A large Fichtner show is astir ever 1 that requires him to grounds simmering restraint, which helium does here, matching Denton’s countenance successful a mode that makes their scenes unneurotic peculiarly resonant.

With conscionable six episodes making up the season, Talamasca: The Secret Order doesn’t deterioration retired its invited either. It uses those six hours good to efficaciously found an urgent tone, laic retired the complications that travel from Guy’s steep learning curve successful the Talamasca, and to present supporting characters that are entertainingly unreliable. And the mysteries are solidly built truthful the assemblage doesn’t get up of the galore surprises. Of the 3 series, Talamasca: The Secret Order earns 2nd champion of the clump due to the fact that of its easiness of entry, the fantabulous enactment of Denton, McGovern and Fichtner, and by fleshing retired the conception of the Talamasca with Guy arsenic a beguiling navigator of its secrets.