The Essex Serpent is almost here! Coming out on May 13th on Apple TV+, this limited series by See-Saw Films tells the story of Cora Seaborne (Claire Danes), who escapes an abusive marriage to travel to a small town on the Essex coast of England, where a recent earthquake has unearthed numerous fossils. Cora begins to investigate claims of a sea serpent terrorizing the town of Aldwinter, and meets Reverend Will Ransome (Tom Hiddleston), who’s trying to keep his jittery flock calm amidst rumors of the serpent. When a young girl disappears, though, Cora finds herself being blamed for the serpent’s presence, with villagers accusing her of somehow attracting it to the village.
The series is based on the 2016 novel of the same name by Sarah Perry. The novel was a number 1 bestseller when it was released, and won the British Book Awards Book of the Year and the Waterstones Book of the Year. In an interview with Kate Braithwaite, Perry called the book a “modern Victorian gothic novel,” saying:
Although this is a novel set in the 19th century, and influenced by the forms and traditions of Gothic fiction, it very much aims to foreground everything which was modern and urgent about that period: scientific progress and debates, political and social upheaval, the early development of feminism, and so on. And while it has a Gothic sensibility, perhaps especially in the depictions of the eerie Essex countryside and the fear of an unknown best, it does not resort to maidens in nightgowns, and cruel villainous counts. I wanted to challenge and interrogate what readers might expect from a neo-Victorian Gothic novel.
Even though the TV adaptation has been in development for awhile, surprisingly little footage has been released, even with the premiere date soon approaching. However, now we have a trailer to pore over! Here’s everything we noticed, and how the series is shaping up to stay true to—and diverge from—its source material.
A Town Gripped by Fear…
Right away, the trailer shows us some very atmospheric, spine-chilling shots. A young girl runs through misty wetlands, seemingly trying to escape something that’s chasing her. A man says that the girl “was taken for her sins” while Will tries to comfort him. We see various shots of churning water and fishing boats while Cora explains that the “mythical” beast tormenting the town might be real.
Although the novel does contain some creepy and tragic elements (and is very much a gothic novel), it doesn’t really have a lot of suspense or jump scares. However, judging from the trailer, it looks like the TV adaptation might hype up the fear factor for dramatic effect. While the serpent in the novel is an unsettling backdrop to Cora’s story, it looks like it’ll be a bigger, scarier presence in the show.
That presence is sure to set up some tension between Cora and the villagers. In the trailer, she’s positively exuberant over the possibility that the serpent could exist, actually grinning as she says it might be real. Meanwhile, the villagers seem to be falling deeper and deeper into fear and despair. Remember that Cora is an outsider in Aldwinter, and part of the drama in the series will likely stem from the clashes between her modern London sensibility and the villagers’ more old-fashioned way of life. We see this clash highlighted when Will calls belief in the serpent “a symptom of the times we live in” while standing in a large building in London. In the next shot, Cora accuses Will of being “against progress.”
Another interesting aspect of the trailer is Jo Ransome (Dixie Egerickx) and the other children in the village, who seem to be falling into fainting fits. Jo says, “It’s in us,” calling to mind the Salem Witch Trials and other episodes of mass hysteria. Is the serpent real, or is fear and superstition enough to make it seem real to everyone in town?
…And a Pastor Gripped by Passion
What is it with hot priests breaking their vows to hook up with female protagonists these days!? Will isn’t celibate, of course—he’s a pastor, so he has a wife and family—but there’s still a forbidden romance brewing between him and Cora. We see them standing together, their faces close, looking like they’re about to kiss. “I can’t think clearly when I’m around you,” Will says, and we see them briefly on the beach, as his wife Stella (Clémence Poésy) peeps out the window. Between bringing the serpent and corrupting the pastor, Cora is creating a hot mess of trouble in Aldwinter.
Faith Versus Science
Taking place at the dawn of modern science, the novel focuses mainly on questions of science and faith and the places where they clash or merge. Are fossils mythical creatures, or simply extinct animals? Is mesmerism a form of medical treatment or spiritualist quackery? Is the serpent a real live beast that can be observed and studied, or just a myth born from superstition? Cora and Will spend much of the novel engaging in intellectual sparring matches, debating the nature of God and the physical world.
It looks like the series will keep those questions front and center. This promo clip, released at the same time as the trailer, emphasizes that debate:
In the clip, Cora explains basic paleontology to Will, telling him that although fossils alone won’t prove the existence of the serpent, they may give hints and clues that will lead her closer to the truth. While ideas like evolution and the fossil record may sound like old news to us, in the 1890s it was still a new and radical idea.
By the way, this promo highlights another exciting aspect of the series…
The Ancient Essex Coast
We can already tell that the landscape is going to be just as important a character in this series as any human or serpent. All through the trailer, we get dramatic shots of marshes, fields, and beaches. In an interview at the London premiere, Hiddleston said that “the landscape is very wild” on the Essex coast, “and that mirrors something turbulent about the passions of the characters, which is quite unfettered and wild.”
Anything we missed? Let us know in the comments! The Essex Serpent premieres on May 13 on Apple TV Plus.
(image: See-Saw Films)
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