Created by Joss Whedon (before his departure) and shepherded to the screen by Philippa Goslett, The Nevers arrived on HBO in 2021 with a bang—literally. An alien ship explodes over Victorian London, raining down shimmering spores that “Touched” certain people, granting them extraordinary powers. The result? A chaotic, corset-ripping, genre-bending masterpiece that felt like The X-Men crashed into a Jane Austen novel during a gaslight blackout.
And when you get to the end, join the rest of us in the sad, hopeful corner of the internet, still asking: What happens next? Have you seen The Nevers? Are you still angry it was cancelled? Let me know in the comments. The Nevers
Think of it less as a complete meal and more as a brilliant, unfinished novel you find in a used bookstore. You’ll be frustrated that there’s no final chapter. But you’ll be grateful for the pages that exist. If you love genre chaos— Doctor Who meets Penny Dreadful meets Orphan Black —give The Nevers a shot. Watch it for the bee-swarm girl. Watch it for the opera house fight. Watch it for the moment Amalia True looks directly into the camera of history and whispers, “We’re going to need a bigger boat.” Created by Joss Whedon (before his departure) and
Partway through the season, The Nevers pulls off a rug-pull so audacious that you’ll either cheer or throw your remote. Suffice it to say, the show is not just a Victorian superhero drama. It’s something far stranger, sadder, and more ambitious. The Wounds: Where It Stumbles Let’s be honest. The first two episodes feel frantic, overstuffed with characters (do we really need a Touched who can turn into a swarm of bees and a Touched who can pull metal from the ground?). The dialogue occasionally leans too hard into Whedon-speak—that rapid-fire, self-aware quirkiness that worked in 1999 but feels a little dated now. Are you still angry it was cancelled
Even unfinished, The Nevers is a stunning artifact of what ambitious television can be. It’s a show about trauma, found family, and the radical act of refusing to be a monster just because society labels you one. The costumes are breathtaking, the performances (particularly Donnelly, Skelly, and Ben Chaplin as the weary detective Frank Mundi) are top-tier, and the central mystery of the Galanthi is genuinely moving.