The Essex Serpent

TV Series Review

Cora Seaborne just lost her husband, and now she’s free. Free from the horrific abuse that plagued her behind closed doors. Free from being paraded around parties like a caged bird. Free to make her own decisions—a rarity in 1893. 

She decides to leave behind her life of affluence in London and move to a small town called Aldwinter, in Essex. While Cora readily embraces her newfound independence, her peculiar 11-year-old son, Frankie, is less than thrilled. Neither is Martha, Cora’s nanny and close socialist friend–but she follows out of a sense of obligation. And Cora’s newest acquaintance, the brilliant cardiovascular surgeon Luke Garrett would prefer Cora stay in London and fall in love with him. 

But none of that matters. 

Cora’s true passion lies in paleontology and figuring out how things work and operate within nature; a naturalist, they call her. And what better place to explore than the deep waters of Essex where, it is rumored, an ancient serpent dwells.

Most people in Aldwinter don’t believe that there’s an actual serpent, least of all vicar Will Ransome. But then a young woman disappears and is found dead, washed ashore with visible markings  covering her body: Markings that look like snake bites. After that, strange things begin to happen. 

Cora is quickly blamed for the changing tides: The townspeople believe that her atheism and worldliness has brought some sort of curse upon them. Many would even go so far to say that Cora herself is the serpent. But vicar Will Ransome isn’t convinced. In fact, the only thing he can be sure of is that his faith isn’t what it once was and that his attraction to Cora directly contradicts his beliefs as a religious, married man.

In the Beginning …

Serpents are nothing new.

In fact, in the book of Genesis, we learn that God created paradise for Adam and Eve to enjoy, and that they quickly threw it away. Eve was tempted by the serpent to eat the forbidden fruit and she persuaded her husband, Adam, to do the same. Once they disobeyed God, they were cast out of paradise. 

In the 17th century, John Milton wrote his epic poem, Paradise Lost, which focused on this very topic: man’s gift of free will and the ruination that following temptation brings. These stories make clear that entertaining sin and its evil desires leads to destruction. 

That’s exactly where Apple TV+ begins with its latest miniseries, The Essex Serpent. Based on a book of the same name by British novelist Sarah Perry, this series proposes that a mysterious serpent is responsible for the havoc that begins to tear apart the lives of those who live in the quiet sea town of Aldwinter. 

But as each episode unfolds, viewers quickly learn that the serpent may not even be real. Perhaps the serpent is the evil that lies within each one of us, rising to the surface to rear its ugly head and take what it wants, without regard for others. 

And there’s a whole lot of ugly head-rearing here. 

Just about every character, as compelling as they may be, is deeply selfish. The only redeemable person here is Will’s wife, Stella, who cares for her children and her husband, and even for Cora’s odd son. 

Cora, for her part, is a terrible, selfish mother. She and Will pursue their physical passions and have sex later in the series. Then there’s Martha, Cora’s nanny and close friend, who has sex with a man, but makes it clear she’ll be thinking of Cora during the act. 

Aside from the sexual temptation that lurks in many a scene and hints at homosexuality, there’s an awful lot of ritualistic blood spilled as young children and adults offer animal sacrifices and burn incence to ward off the spirit of the serpent. 

And in keeping with that tone, the true battle here really lies in God versus nature. Spirituality versus tangible, physical evidence. As Will Ransome notes, “you won’t find the truth without a struggle.” And everyone here struggles. 

Many in this series wrestle with a God who comes only to judge, while others embrace their desires and watch as their selfishness poisons everything, and everyone, around them. 

Combine all of that with flashbacks to Cora’s horrific abuse, bloodied animals and humans, ritualistic sacrifice, convoluted spirituality and you’ve got a series that promotes its passions while looking away from its problems.