"Bodies": Time travel, a gay couple, social commentary, and a naked guy. What more do you want?

 

Bodies, a tv series on Netflix, has an intriguing premise: the same naked dead guy appears in four time periods, to be investigated by four different cops. I reviewed Episode 1.

London, 2023:  Shahara,  young South Asian woman, goes on a 10k run through town, then does some squishy "she's got a family!" stuff and goes to work -- she's a cop, trying to contain the crowds that are protesting a white supremacist parade.  

She  sees a teenage boy, Syed (Chaneil Kular), lurking with a gun -- and chases him across rooftops into Longharvest Lane -- where there's a naked corpse!  It has mysterious symbol on its wrist, and its eye is gouged out. She calls for backup.

London, 1942.  World War II, with the constant threat of air raids. A debonair detective named Charlie (Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, below) double-takes at some ladies to show viewers that he's heterosexual, then goes to work in one of those open-plan, bevel-windowed offfices. We see some ladies oozing over him, then down to business: The Inspector thinks that he's accepting bribes. How else could he afford to "throw cash at every piece of skirt going into this building"?  Aw, I thought he seduced them with his debonair smile and huge penis.  Also he's under suspicion because he's Jewish.Hey, the lady from 2023 was Muslim.  It must be marginalized groups all the way down.  

Charlie twists the interrogation to cast suspicion on the Inspector, then flirt with some more ladies and get instructions from his super-secret spy commander: drive to Longharvest Lane to pick up a body.  He arrives at night, in the rain, and sees the same body that appeared in 2023!

London, 1890: The Gilded Age, but this is in the down-and-out Whitechapel neighborhood (the same place where Jack the Ripper prowled about).  The red-haired Inspector Hillinghead (Kyle Soler, top photo) has to arrest a young boy caught stealing a loaf of bread because he and his mum were starving to death, but after all, the law is the law.  Then all the street lights explode!   He and his assistant continue, look askance at some drag queen prostitutes, and find -- you guessed it -- the same body on Longharvest Lane. 

But this time there's a witness -- a photojournalist named Henry Ashe (George Parker) took some photos.  The Inspector wants them as soon as they've developed.  As he walks away, the Inspector stares, no doubt wondering what he was doing near the Rookery, an infamous gay brothel.

London, 2023: Other cops arrive at the crime scene near the white supremacy parade, and interrogate Shahara about the boy she was chasing -- no doubt he's the killer, right?  Shahara disagrees. Back at the station, they identify him as Syed Tahir, only minor crimes, no hint of radicalization.  His sister wants to know why that makes him a suspect: a) Islamophobia or b.) racism.  

Simultaneously, in 2023 and 1890, the cops watch the autopsy. (Body played by Tom Mothersdale.)  There was no blood at the crime scene, so he was killed elsewhere and brought to Longharvest Lane.  He was shot in the eye, but there's no bullet in his brain. . No DNA, fingerprints, or dental records on file (in 2023). . 

London, 1941:  Charlie finds the body, as he was ordered.  Just then an air raid siren goes off, so he shoves it into his car and drives away toward a shelter. Uh-oh, he's being followed. It's the Inspector who thought he was a spy, demanding a cut of the booty in the boot.  But before Charlie can shoot him, he is disintegrated by a bomb.  And people are milling around, so Charlie can't retrieve the body from the boot.

London, 2023: Shahara rushes to a restaurant just in time for her Dad's birthday dinner. The boss calls to tell her to get back on the case: they need someone to interrogate the suspect's sister, and another Muslim woman has a better chance of gaining rapport.  Besides, if they don't find Syed soon, jittery cops will be shooting every Muslim kid they see. 

The interview: Earlier today Syed called, freaked out, saying that people would think he killed someone, but he didn't.

More time slips after the break

London, 1890: Inspector Hillinghead calls on photographer Henry Ashe. Ulp, he's shirtless!  The Inspector stares longingly, then looks at the photos: street scenes, faces...and a mysterious figure reflected in the window next to the corpse.  A gentleman witnessed the murder, or committed it!

Hillinghead also wants Photographer Ashe to prove that he didn't do it.  He was at the male brothel at the time, and proves it with a photo of  him hugging and kissing another guy -- but he won't say who it was.  Then he tries to kiss Hillinghead!  Wait, that's a criminal offense in 1890 (actually, in some states until 2003). Feel him out a little more, don't just grab!  Inspector Hillinghead backs away in shock and arrests him for "gross indecency and unnatural acts."  

London, 1941: Charlie pretends to be showing up to investigate the explosion that led to the Corrupt Inspector's death.  He opens the boot and "finds" the naked corpse.  Back at the station, he puts his team to work on the case.  

Sjddenly he gets a phone call: "You didn't bring us the body.  You failed!  We need you to honor our arrangement or suffer the consequences!" Why call him at work?  Didn't people have home phones in 1941?  

London, 2023: Shahara and her kid are feeding each other cake batter from a spoon.  I always find people feeding each other disgusting, especially gross raw cake batter. Suddenly Syed calls!  He suggests meeting at a shopping mall "by the ice cream cone."  

Unfortunately, Shahara tells her whole crew, and they send a SWAT team to the mall. Syed: "Everything they said would happen, has happened.  What happens next is, I'm going to die."  Then the SWAT team guns him down. 

London, 1890: At the police station, Hillinghead demands to know who photographer Ashe's companion was.  . Fine:  It was the son of the Assistant Chief of Police!  Of course, the Inspector can't record that! 

Next, he examines the photo of the man in the window.  Uh-oh, his colleague Ladbrooke recognizes him, but won't say who it is, or they'll all be killed. Just let it go. So he's the Prime Minister?

London, 2053:  It looks the same, except that Big Brother appears on holograms in odd places, and the cop's car drives itself.  She detects an anomaly, and finds the corpse -- but he's alive! The end.

Beefcake: The Photographer, and of course the Body

Gay Characters: The Photographer and Inspector Hilllinghead will start a relationship.

My Grade: Intriguing premise, although the social commentary comparing contemporary Muslims, 1940s Jews, and 1890s gays is a little heavy handed.  I'm just worried that the premise won't pan out -- the mystery will be solved in some inane fashion.  B+.