In the past couple of months, I have watched some decent to good television series that have taken their merry time to unfold their narrative and managed to hold my attention from the start to the finish. I am talking about stuff like Alien: Earth, Foundation Season 3, Peacemaker Season 2, Queen Mantis, Task, Atomic, Gen V Season 2, and heck, even Pokemon Concierge Part 2. I mean, we are living in an era where everyone is fighting to be the next king of slop content. And in this sea of mediocrity, finding these shows that still respect the storytelling tools that they’re employing to tell a tale layered with relevant themes and commentary is, to be honest, refreshing and relieving. Of course, this air of positivity has been marred by these movies masquerading as miniseries and TV shows. These are projects that barely had enough plot for a feature film in the first place, but in order to play into the binge model of Netflix, they have been seemingly stretched into the serialized format. The examples of this phenomenon are Hostage, Two Graves, Maledictions, Black Rabbit, and Billionaires’ Bunker. I’m not certain about the intent behind the creation of Nero the Assassin, but it sure as hell leans towards that second category of shows rather than the first one.
Created by Jean-Patrick Benes, Nicolas Digard, Martin Douaire, and Allan Mauduit, and written by Raphaelle Richet, with the episodes being directed by Ludovic Colbeau-Justin and Mauduit, Nero the Assassin tells the story of the titular killer of the city of Lamartine. He works for the vice-consul, Rochemort, and he is considered the best in the business. One of his latest assignments involved murdering Tancrede, the man to whom Rochemort’s daughter, Hortense, was engaged. Why? Because that wouldn’t have been a profitable union in terms of Rochemort’s expansion program. Instead, he wants Hortense to marry the prince of Segur, something that she is evidently against. On top of that, Rochemort has managed to hire the services of the one-eyed witch to get rid of the consul, and the fee for her work is Nero’s soul. However, when the one-eyed witch learns that Nero has an illegitimate daughter named Perla, she cancels her plans to slaughter Nero, and she gets busy looking for Perla. That said, since Rochemort has crossed some ethical lines by hiring the one-eyed witch, Nero rushes to Segur to complain to the prince and the archbishop about the vice-consul’s illicit activities. En route to that city, Nero kidnaps Hortense to keep Rochemort at bay and abducts Perla as well to keep her from falling into the hands of the one-eyed witch. Whether or not he succeeds in this endeavor is what forms the crux of this series.
Storytelling-wise, Nero the Assassin is the equivalent of that gif of a bus that is about to crash but never does, and all we get is a montage of shots of the bus almost crashing. To put things into context, the writers introduce magic into a messy affair about an illegal power grab and then refuse to address the elephant in the room, which is the magical element. They take the characters on this convoluted and borderline inane trip through the scenic landscape of France, thereby making it seem that they have switched genres and become an adventure-Western. It’s only after episode 6 that they get to the heart of the matter, and even then what you get is crumbs. There’s some commentary on religious fanaticism through the cult called the Penitents. Parallels are drawn between the disturbance in the ecological system due to the death of magic and climate change. However, that’s all you get: vague insinuations. Once they are done with that, the focus returns to the interpersonal drama and the political pushing and pulling amongst those who wish to rule over France. If it’s not clear already, the writing for the drama and politics is extremely undercooked, thereby making the lore-based stuff all the more alluring. And when that eagerness to learn about this fictional world is dealt with in a dissatisfying manner, the overall viewing experience is bound to be frustrating.
This is where my theory that Nero the Assassin was supposed to be the first part of a movie comes in. If you look at the whole project pretty thoroughly, redact all the stuff that’s irrelevant to the main plot (and there’s a lot of that), and focus on the action-heavy sequences, the drama, and the world-building, I suppose what you’ll have in your hands is a decent first entry in a franchise that’s clearly trying to emulate the flavor of Martin Bourboulon’s The Three Musketeers movies. However, as a series, there’s just too much unnecessary fluff that adds nothing of importance to the narrative. And, look, I am all for using pointless side quests to flesh out the world that these characters inhabit. But if that’s not happening as well, and all we are getting is a bunch of exposition that’s not telling us anything about the characters we don’t know already, then what’s the point of that whole exercise? It hurts the pacing, and by the time you get to the meaty stuff, your attention has already begun dwindling. Credit where credit is due, it’s evident that a whole lot of effort has gone into its visuals. The production design, costume design, art direction, hair and makeup, the VFX, the SFX, and the CGI—it all looks top-notch. French entertainment is having a bit of a moment in terms of action; hence, every time the show goes into combat sequence mode, it gets interesting. The sound design and the score are brilliant. So, yeah, it’s enjoyable in parts. Overall, though? It’s a big fat nope.
From an acting point of view, Pio Marmai has to do most of the heavy lifting. Yann Gael, Alice Isaaz, Olivier Gourmet, Louis-Do de Lencquesaing, Camille Razat, Lili-Rose Carlier Taboury, and the rest of the cast do get some moments to shine. But at the end of the day, it’s Marmai who sticks in your memory, and he absolutely earns his right to stay in your cranium. He is as good at pulling off complicated action choreography as he is at making you empathize with Nero in some very darkly comedic moments. He literally bares it all to convince you that he isn’t in this business just for the money and he’ll go to any lengths to entertain you. And, yeah, for his sake, I kept hoping for the writing to pick up the pace and match up to Marmai’s acting prowess. Unfortunately, it never did. Is Nero the Assassin worth a watch, though? Yeah, I dunno. If you are a diehard fan of Marmai, then my recommendation doesn’t matter. If you just “want to check it out,” I’ll warn you that the first 6 episodes are a slog. The last 2 episodes aren’t a slam dunk either. There’s some eye-popping action. If that sounds like something you want to spend 8 hours on, go for it. Also, I’d like to request artists to make a movie if you have the material for a movie; don’t stretch it into a series; it’s not worth it.
