The first two episodes of Anne Rice’s Talamasca: The Secret Order premiere October 26 on AMC and AMC+, with the remainder of the series dropping weekly after that.
Anne Rice fans lost their gothic horror hero with her passing in 2021, but at least they’ve been able to enjoy a Rice-essance happening at AMC. The Anne Rice Immortal Universe, based on the writer’s mythology and books, launched in 2022 with the exceptional Interview With the Vampire series. In 2023, there was the less satisfying Anne Rice's Mayfair Witches series. And now from showrunner/creator John Lee Hancock (Saving Mr. Banks) is Anne Rice’s Talamasca: The Secret Order, an absorbing take on the world that presents the intrigues of the shadowy Talamasca as a supernatural-infused spy thriller. What that group is and how it operates is experienced through the eyes of recently recruited outsider Guy Anatole (Nicholas Denton) who ably navigates us through this taut, unpredictable mystery as a rare hero to root for in this morally grey universe.
Set in contemporary New York and London, Talamasca: The Secret Order exists within the connective tissue already established by the prior series. Cribbing from Buffy the Vampire Slayer terminology, the Talamasca is much like the Watchers' Council. Here, the Talamasca extends its influence through “motherhouses” around the globe where their agents research and monitor the supernatural world, particularly vampires, witches, and demons. As needed, it maintains order and protects civilians, sort of like a supernatural CIA. The New York house is run by the enigmatic Helen (Elizabeth McGovern) who has taken it upon herself to covertly monitor management at the London house. When a bloody eyeball and a note saying “We see you” ends up on her desk, she immediately sets out to recruit an “off book” fresh face to help her infiltrate that facility for a closer look.
Enter Guy, a broke but brilliant recent NYU law school grad interviewing for his first job. Guy also has secrets, as he’s spent most of his life hiding his often painful clairvoyance powers by existing apart from the masses as much as possible. As it turns out, he’s long been on Helen’s radar, and she finally appears in his life to offer him a robust salaried job within the Talamasca as said London field agent. Her offer also confirms the disquieting truth that the world harbors supernatural creatures, and Guy’s ability to read minds makes him exceptionally well-positioned (with some training) to straddle both worlds. She’s been his unseen “Auntie Xavier” for most of his life, curating opportunities to prepare him for this very moment. Too bad he’s uninterested until she dangles the carrot that his long dead mother is indeed not, so he takes the gig intending to use the Talamasca’s resources to find mom.
A series like this lives or dies based on how well the audience responds to Guy, so the AMC powers-that-be deserve a pat on the back for choosing Denton, a knockout choice to carry the series. He immediately finds a sweet spot for Guy, balancing sympathetic fish out of water vibes with a shrewd awareness of how to leverage his powers and smarts to stay afloat. Disarmingly relatable from the start, Denton’s Guy is vulnerable but never stupid as he gauges friend or foe status with everyone he meets. He’s also got great chemistry with everyone in the ensemble, particularly McGovern’s Helen who keeps him, and us, guessing about her true motives.
Another plus for this series is that Guy’s arc and story is original. Having no connection to the books unburdens the audience from carrying any existing expectations into Talamasca: The Secret Order. Unlike the other two series, every twist, turn and revelation here is a surprise to experience as it happens. And pre-existing knowledge of the other series is also unnecessary to fully enjoy what unfolds, a rarity with interconnected universes these days. However, if you do know Rice’s world or the other shows, you’re rewarded with useful mythology expansion and well-placed cameos from Eric Bogosian’s Daniel Molloy and Justin Kirk’s Raglan James.
In the pilot, which Hancock wrote and directed, he establishes a Three Days of the Condor vibe for the series, but that’s dampened in Episode 2 and after by the clear budget constraints overall. The Secret Order is nowhere near as richly production-designed as Interview With the Vampire, instead using Manchester, England as a production stand-in for London. As a result, the episode directors have to use a lot of tight shots and angled frames to cheat the locales. However, that smaller perspective services the growing claustrophobia that comes with Guy’s tightly maintained footprint near the London motherhouse.
In counterpoint, there is an appreciated variety to the supernatural representation, with Guy encountering a spectrum of grounded witches, vampires and humans who aren’t just simple, monolithic representations of their kind. Jason Schwartzman is very much welcome as the ancient vampire Burton, who briefly tutors Guy about the rules and motivations of his kind. He doesn’t hang out long enough. But that leaves more space for William Fichtner’s Jasper, a savvy and rather terrifying vampire with ambitions that commingle with Guy’s over time. A great Fichtner performance is almost always one that requires him to exhibit simmering restraint, which he does here, matching Denton’s countenance in a way that makes their scenes together particularly resonant.
With just six episodes making up the season, Talamasca: The Secret Order doesn’t wear out its welcome either. It uses those six hours well to effectively establish an urgent tone, lay out the complications that come from Guy’s steep learning curve in the Talamasca, and to introduce supporting characters that are entertainingly unreliable. And the mysteries are solidly built so the audience doesn’t get ahead of the many surprises. Of the three series, Talamasca: The Secret Order earns second best of the bunch because of its ease of entry, the excellent work of Denton, McGovern and Fichtner, and by fleshing out the concept of the Talamasca with Guy as a beguiling navigator of its secrets.
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