Hulu's "Furious" Reviewed: Trauma Drama Led by Rossum, Petticrew

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- Elizabeth Meriwether created "Furious" for Hulu, loosely inspired by the 1987 film "Black Widow," with the first three episodes now streaming and remaining episodes airing weekly on Mondays.
- Lola Petticrew plays Catherine, a trafficking victim who targets her abusers with fatal fentanyl injections and is portrayed as "eerily childlike" even during killings; the review calls the performance "terrifying intensity."
- Emmy Rossum stars as and executive-produces "Furious" as Alice, a rookie FBI agent and recent NYPD transfer whose abusive ex (Jake Lacy) is assigned to the same investigation team — a setup the review calls "absurd."
- Quincy Tyler Bernstine plays Nora Washington, Alice's jaded, alcoholic supervisor whose monologues on Medusa and ancient Greek terms for rage frame the show's trauma themes.
- Ariel Marx composed the "haunting, partially vocalized" score, which the review credits with setting a "gripping tone" alongside the cast's work.
- The review ties "Furious" to Meriwether's prior work "The Dropout" and "Dying for Sex," framing it as another study of female trauma and violence — though critics note the Jeffrey Epstein parallels and trafficking discourse can feel heavy-handed.
Why it matters: For Hulu, "Furious" leans on Meriwether's "Dropout" track record and Rossum's post- "Shameless" visibility, but the review flags that Epstein parallels and QAnon-era trafficking tropes can feel overdetermined, even as Petticrew and Bernstine's performances elevate familiar material.




