Remember those feel-good television shows like Touched by an Angel, where angels walked among us and helped people with their daily lives?  Well, this is not that show.

The Nevers is not about the kindliness of mankind or angels.   As a matter of fact, kindness is rare in this American scifi, drama, and historical fiction.  “Victorian women find themselves with unusual abilities, relentless enemies and a mission that may change…”   Not for the faint of heart nor the prudish.  The constant violence is its own character in the series.

I saw the first 3 episodes of The Nevers for free on HBO as a merchandising tool to entice me to add HBO to the cost of my subscription to Xfinity cable TV.  The Nevers is wonderful.  It is about women who kick ass in their attempts to keep safe those who are “touched” or extremely different than the average person, especially other women.   The difference is that we don’t know how or why these individuals are now endowed with newly acquired “powers”, unorthodox skills, and/or odd physical appearances.  These things make the average person think they are demon-possessed or witches in the 1800’s.

But people were allowed to see some kind of bizarre-looking ‘vessel’ fly through the city and drop invisible dots which touched individual residents with new skills and odd malformations, making some people feel different almost right away, while in others, the transformations took time. All quickly forget what they have seen. They—different sexes (mostly women), races, and professions—are labeled as “touched” from then on. 

Some can crush things with their hands, some can heal easily or heal others easily, some can read minds or see visions, or have the ability to control electric power, etc.  What if these abilities were from God?   One mother kills her own daughter who has new abilities and starts turning in others with these new abilities, thinking she is doing God’s work.  However, as a result of her work, some of the “touched” are kidnapped and experimented on by a “doctor” who intends to find out how they came to receive these new abilities.   Meanwhile, those he experiments on are lobotomized and/or deformed slaves working in tunnels while others are trained to kill and kidnap more “touched”.

Where are the good people in all this?  The “good” people wear many faces.   Their goodness is an illusion.  Most of the “touched” are good and are helped by seemingly nice people who only help to their own ends.   It seems the touched only trust each other. They solicit charity to keep their “orphanage” running. You can guess how it is with anybody who’s different.  Many of the scenes allude to the horrors still going on today.

Laura Donnelly (new to me) plays Amalia True, the head mistress of the “touched” in her orphanage.  She works on ways to help with her and their survival including fundraising.  Amalia is also “touched” with visions and physical strength.

Ann Skelly (new to me) plays Penance Adair, the woman who is “touched” with science and mechanical genius and is Amalia’s co-manager of the orphanage.

Olivia Williams (The Sixth Sense, Ms. Austen Regrets, Hanna, etc.) plays the charitable benefactor to the touched orphanage who has an ulterior motive for her kindness.

Pip Torrens (Preacher, Poldark, The Mystery of the Spanish Chest (Poirot), etc.) plays Lord Gilbert Massen whose “touched” daughter died in his arms probably because she was too young to receive the “gift”.  He and his secret group of wealthy men want all of the “touched” to be destroyed.  So, he is definitely not a friend to the “touched”.

Eleanor Tomlinson (Jack the Giant Slayer, Colette, Poldark, etc.) plays Mary Brighton who is “touched” with a voice from heaven which calms and calls to other “touched”.   She is also the ex-wife of a police detective.

Ben Chaplin (The Truth about Cats and Dogs, The Remains of the Day, Cinderella, The Legend of Tarzan, etc.) plays the ex-husband police detective Frank Mundi who acts like he is on the side of the “touched” but works for those who are not on their side.

Amy Manson (Being Human, Once Upon a Time, etc.) plays Maladie (malady vs. my lady) who is a woman who is “touched” just as she is going into an asylum, escapes and wants to kill everyone especially the “touched”.   Her power is pain which comes in handy for her in the asylum.

Nick Frost (Attack the Block, Shaun of the Dead, The World’s End, Snow White and the Huntsman, etc.) plays the leading gangster Declan “Beggar King” Orrun who helps whoever pays the most.

Denis O’Hare (True Blood, American Gods, The Proposal, etc.) plays Dr. Edmund Hague who unmercifully experiments on the “touched” to try to find out where their gifts come from.  He is unsuccessful in his task so far.  Be prepared for the horror of his “work”.

Zackary Momoh (Harriet, Doctor Sleep, Death in Paradise, etc.), plays Doctor Horatio Cousens who has been “touched” with the ability to heal fatal wounds practically the same day.

Rochelle Neil (Terminator: Dark Fate, Death in Paradise, etc.) plays Anne Carbey who is “touched“ with the ability to start fires from her hands.   She assists Maladie in her murderous spree until she sees a better way with the more decent “touched”.

Kiran Sonia Sawar (new to me) plays as Harriet Kaur who is an aspiring lawyer and a “touched” woman who can turn objects into glass with her breath.

The series was created, written, and directed by Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Justice League, Angel, Avengers movie series, Toy Story, Cabin in the Woods, Speed, etc.).   Update:  Joss Whedon has left the show.  (“‘The Nevers’ Can’t Escape Joss Whedon’s Shadow, for Better or (Mostly) Worse”, Alison Herman, April 13, 2021, The Ringer)

I love the show thus far and hope to see the rest of the episodes. HBO has another winner here.  No wonder there was such a fight for this show between the networks and streaming services.  (Wikipedia)

Written by Rosa L. Griffin