TV Review: Bodies (2023)

Bodies (2023) created by Paul Tomalin based on the graphic novel by Si Spencer

The same mysterious dead body shows up in the same London backstreet in 1890, 1941, 2023, and 2053. This story follows the four police investigators as they try to figure out the murder while dealing with personal and professional problems. The corpse is strange--the left eye has been shot but no bullet is inside the skull and there is no exit wound. A scar above the eyebrow and the tattoo on the wrist provide clues that are inexplicable to the investigators. Viewers get more connecting threads than the characters, making for an interesting drama that naturally turns over into science fiction as time travel enters into the narrative.

The premise is quite intriguing. How can the same body be in four different times in the same place? Who is this murder victim, or is it murder victims? Will the detectives have to work together in some clever way across the span of 163 years? What narrative thread is going to complete the pattern and resolve the mystery? I found the convolutions the plot has to go through to reach an ending a bit too contrived and not very compelling. The actors do a good job with their roles but their characters, in spite of a lot of narrative detail invested in them, turn out to be more gears in the plot mechanism. The resolution is mostly satisfying but the path to get there is not very coherent. The time travel element is not very convincing or consistent and does not ultimately deliver a valid reason for the happy ending.

Not recommended--this show is okay if you don't think about it but not thinking about it is hard to do, for me at least.

Currently (November 2023) available streaming on Netflix.