minor spoilers abound.

A fun magical romp with a great deal to recommend it, but…

Renegade Nell, streaming on Disney+, released all eight episodes at once. Based on ads and previews, I really wanted to love this show. And there is a lot to love. Alas, there is plenty of self-sabotage as well. But, best to start with the positive since that includes the setup – which is also most logical seeing as one needs that basis to understand the show.

In 18th century England, Nell (don’t call me ‘Nellie’) Jackson is a woman soldier returning from war. The show never explains that anachronism, instead simply establishing it from the onset as a given. That works just fine, as history is rife with real-life examples of women who did fight in wars. It’s an easy enough part of the setup to go along with, seeing as the rest of the show includes magic, demons, and a friendly fairy (Billy) who’s attached himself to Nell and bestows magical strength on her when she needs it.

Louisa Harland more than ably leads the absolutely delightful cast. She plays the role straight in both senses of the word. She takes Nell seriously but with a light touch that never crosses the line to winking at the audience. She also plays a woman without being butch, yet her appearance is charmingly androgynous enough that other characters unfailingly key off her attire (most often britches and a military jacket) instead of off her personality. It is refreshingly never an issue in the series. Nell might like men. She might like women. She might like both (or neither). It doesn’t matter for the story.

Archetypes abound, but the cast does a great job of elevating their characters. Nell has a loving but gruff father and two younger sisters, including the brilliant bespectacled youngest, who all run the family pub. We have the stern, wise aristocratic Magistrate who owns the land the pub and its town are on, and his two grown children: a spoiled, foul-tempered son; and a widowed, cold-as-ice, smart-as-a-whip daughter. The siblings’ relationship is equal parts adversarial, annoying, and affectionate.

The whole plot is perfectly serviceable yet also wholly unremarkable. It’s basically an enjoyable popcorn-movie style of a ride with great costumes and good directing and cinematography.

The writing unfortunately brings it down a bit. After two murders early on, Nell finds herself falsely accused and on the run with her sisters. This turns into a quest to save the queen from traitors to the crown. They’re joined by a former servant of the aristocrats’, and by a fop who masquerades as a highwayman. The actor gamely does his best, but the writing undercuts that his character is supposed to be appealing despite being utterly self-centered. We never get to see enough of his redeeming qualities.

Of the two baddies, one is a totally evil baddie and the other, a comic-relief baddie. Then there’s the sister, who vacillates between evil and just plain selfish, and between super smart and really naïve. A well-drawn character can be both complex and contradictory. The problem in this case is the writing making her naïve about the very things it also tries to make her really smart about, and it doesn’t work very well.

In two episodes, the series plays with the format, once starting as if it will be a musical, another playing like a Regency Romance. Kudos for the attempt at creativity, but the execution was jarring.

Undoubtedly, though, the most glaring problem with the show was Nell and ‘her’ fairy – or with Billy and ‘his’ person. He helps her by literally flying into her mouth and down her throat. Ick. Major ick. Setting aside the already-problematic implication that, however smart and resourceful Nell is, she must rely on someone else for her strength, the imagery of him needing to actually go inside her is just gross.

There are hints of a backstory between them, should there be a season 2. There are also indications that Nell isn’t the only sister who can use magic. Both ideas are well worth pursuing.

Verdict: I hope the series gets the chance to continue, and that it can somehow eliminate the ick factor. 7/10.

Rigel Ailur

http://www.BluetrixBooks.com