At first, Furious seems like the kind of crime thriller where you know exactly who to root for. There’s an FBI agent. There’s a serial killer. The lines between good and bad should be easy to draw.
But this gripping eight-episode series on Disney+ is not your typical crime thriller. What begins as a familiar cat-and-mouse story becomes something more complicated: a story about violence, trauma, revenge, and the different ways people respond to being hurt.
Furious follows Alice Black (Emmy Rossum), a former NYPD homicide detective who joins the FBI to escape her abusive past with her ex, Marshall (Jake Lacy), who still works as a detective. When her former colleague Danny Kelly (Scoot McNairy) pulls her into an investigation involving a suspicious death, Alice becomes convinced they’re dealing with a female serial killer.
As Alice gets closer to the woman she believes is responsible, the case becomes increasingly personal. Catherine (Lola Petticrew) isn’t simply a killer for Alice to catch. She is another woman shaped by violence — one who has responded to it in a dramatically different way.
More than a crime thriller
Created by Elizabeth Meriwether, Furious is loosely inspired by the 1987 film Black Widow. But Meriwether gives the premise a distinctly contemporary and psychologically complex spin.
She has already given viewers plenty of reasons to pay attention to her work, with shows like New Girl, The Dropout and Dying for Sex under her belt. With Furious, she once again shows an interest in complicated characters who don’t always behave the way we expect them to.
The most compelling part of the series is the contrast between Alice and Catherine. Both are victims of violence and abuse, but their responses could hardly be more different. Catherine channels her rage outward. Her trauma becomes revenge, and she sets out to punish the men who have caused her harm.
Alice, meanwhile, turns much of that damage inward. Her relationship patterns reveal someone who keeps returning to danger in different forms. She dates men willing to hurt her, almost as if violence has become something familiar enough to confuse for intimacy.
That contrast makes Furious more than a straightforward story about catching a serial killer. The series asks how much someone’s past explains their actions, whether revenge can ever be justice, and why we’re sometimes more willing to understand one woman’s response to violence than another’s.
Standout performances and complicated relationships
Petticrew is impressive as Catherine. She’s not simply playing a cold, one-note serial killer. She brings something much more complicated to the role. Catherine can be charming and almost disarmingly calm one moment, then frighteningly focused the next.
IMAGE CREDIT: Disney
Petticrew makes you understand Catherine without asking you to approve of her actions. There’s an intensity to her performance that makes Catherine difficult to dismiss as simply a villain.
Rossum is equally compelling as Alice, whose role as the supposed hero becomes increasingly complicated as we learn more about her. Alice is smart and determined, but she’s also deeply affected by the abuse she has survived. Her tendency to seek out men who might hurt her offers an uncomfortable portrait of how unresolved trauma can continue to influence someone’s choices long after the original danger is gone.
One of the relationships that makes Alice’s story even more interesting is her connection with Danny. Their relationship is built on history, trust, and an affection that isn’t always neatly defined. McNairy plays Danny with a quiet loyalty that makes him easy to root for. He feels less like a conventional love interest or sidekick and more like someone who genuinely knows Alice and still shows up when she needs him.
Another standout is Quincy Tyler Bernstine as Nora Washington, the veteran FBI agent who becomes an important presence in Alice’s new professional life. Nora is tough, experienced, and sharp, often seeming like the smartest person in the room. Bernstine brings humor and humanity to the role, keeping Nora from becoming the stereotypical boss character.
IMAGE CREDIT: Disney
With its season finale arriving on August 31, Furious is well worth catching up on. It’s twisty, emotionally messy, and more interested in moral ambiguity than easy answers.
You may start watching to find out whether Alice catches Catherine.
But somewhere along the way, you may find yourself thinking about something much more uncomfortable: If two people experience the same kind of violence but choose completely different ways to survive it, how do we decide who is the hero — and who is the villain?
That may be the most gripping mystery Furious has to offer.
