“Female rage” is all the rage these days. On Goodreads, you can browse lists of “‘Good for Her’ Books” about women rising up against the patriarchy. The revenge thriller Promising Young Woman won an Oscar, and streaming services are stuffed with shows about women “snapping.”
For every Gone Girl, however, there are dozens of cynical efforts to cash in on the trend. That’s why I was initially skeptical of “Furious,” a new Hulu crime drama that leans hard into the rage angle, even evoking the Furies of Greek mythology with its title.
I should have trusted creator Elizabeth Meriwether, who’s known for sitcoms such as “New Girl” and the tragicomic miniseries “Dying for Sex.” With all eight episodes now streaming, “Furious” has been renewed for a second season.
The deal
When a wealthy playboy dies in an apparent fentanyl overdose on Halloween, New York City detective Danny Kelly (Scoot McNairy) suspects foul play. He calls in his former colleague, Alice Black (Emmy Rossum), now an FBI desk worker. They join forces with Nora Washington (Quincy Tyler Bernstine), head of the Bureau’s sex crimes unit, to track down the culprit, whom Alice believes is a serial killer of sex traffickers and their well-heeled clients.
The audience already knows she’s right. We’ve been following the movements of drifter Catherine Grace (Lola Petticrew) since the Halloween night when she pumped that billionaire’s son full of drugs and watched him die. Bad things happened to Catherine as a vulnerable teenager, and now she’s using her knack for manipulation and disguise to terrorize everyone responsible.
Catherine’s crusade puts her on a collision course with Alice. Herself working through the aftermath of domestic violence, the detective sees more of herself in this vengeful Fury than she’d like to admit.
Will you like it?
“Furious” isn’t “prestige TV,” with the veneer of verisimilitude and restraint the label implies. It takes place in a hyped-up New York where everyone is either an exploiter, a victim, complicit or some combination thereof. This is a city where tormented detectives stake out seedy motels because they can’t sleep, and their superiors speak in elaborately obscene metaphors. The show is noir to the bone — twisty, absurdly plotted and addictive.
Many writers lean into pulp tropes out of laziness. Meriwether, by contrast, clearly knew exactly what she was doing when she hatched this fever dream. (See sidebar for her inspiration.) She puts craft, research and intention into the details of “Furious,” especially the many scenes set in the city’s shelters for its at-risk residents. The deeper we venture into Catherine’s world, which is populated by indelible characters, the better we grasp how she lives in uneasy symbiosis with this support system that failed her at a crucial juncture.
If “Furious” had no other strengths, Petticrew’s performance would make it worth watching. Catherine transforms before our eyes, just as she does for her targets: from a sexually aggressive siren to a perpetual adolescent whose personal soundtrack is Rihanna’s “We Found Love” to a frightened little girl. This is no stereotype of a femme fatale. With a vulnerability reminiscent of the young Sissy Spacek, Petticrew layers the character with deceits and defenses and then strips her bare, leaving us as mesmerized as Alice is.
Rossum brings a more self-conscious brand of vulnerability to Alice. A few decades ago, the actor had a stint as Hollywood’s dewy-eyed ingenue of the moment; now she pairs the dewy eyes with a steely manner, and we sense her eagerness to sink her teeth into the role of an antiheroine.
One of the edgier plot points of “Furious” is that Alice seeks out strangers for rough sexual encounters, re-creating aspects of the dynamic with her abusive cop ex (Jake Lacy), while rebuffing the awkward advances of Danny, who just wants to protect her. Meriwether and Rossum clearly hope to show us that survivors don’t have to be angels, and healing can involve messy detours. While this aspect of the story could be better developed, “Furious” makes a valiant effort to take it beyond sensationalism.
The rest of the cast is stacked with talent, starting with Bernstine as Nora, a bitter, sardonic alcoholic who is just as wounded in her own way as the two leads, and every bit as compelling. Also unforgettable is Steve Way as an internet whiz with muscular dystrophy from whom Catherine sources her lethal drug supply.
“Furious” boils down to a simple theme: Men do bad things, society enables them, and women retaliate by doing bad things to men, other women and themselves. The writing and acting elevate what might otherwise be a depressing illustration of a vicious cycle, while the pulpy plotting energizes it. Embrace the show as a warped nightmare reflection of reality, and get your rage on.
If you like this, try…
Black Widow (1987; rentable): According to a screen credit, “Furious” was “inspired by” this now-obscure thriller directed by Bob Rafelson, in which Debra Winger plays an FBI agent pursuing Theresa Russell as the titular killer of wealthy men. It was a VHS favorite of my family back in the day.
Widows (2018; rentable): Four bereaved women join forces for a heist in Steve McQueen’s underseen drama, coscripted with Gillian Flynn. It’s overstuffed for a feature film and, like “Furious,” sometimes overwrought, but powerful anger pulses through it.
“Killing Eve” (four seasons, 2018-2022; Britbox, Netflix, Paramount+, Philo, YouTube Primetimes, rentable): A “good girl” government agent’s fascination with the female murderer she’s chasing is also the central conceit of this BBC spy drama starring Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer
This article appears in September 9 • 2026.
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