In the premiere episode of "Bodies," we're immediately thrown into the chaos of 2023. Detective Hasan finds herself amidst a violent far-right rally when she spots an armed man skulking behind a trash receptacle. A pursuit ensues, culminating in a grisly discovery: a nude white male, his life snuffed out by a single bullet to the eye.
The narrative then whisks us back to 1941, where Detective Whiteman grapples with pervasive bigotry within the ranks during the throes of World War II. Inspector Farrell insinuates Whiteman's allegiance to a clandestine entity, tasking him with an eerie errand - to recover a corpse from Long Harvest Lane.
Another temporal leap takes us to 1890. Detective Hillinghead, harboring his own secret as a gay man, comes across a cadaver in a dilapidated district. A photojournalist is caught capturing this macabre moment.
In the current timeline, Detective Hasan, a Muslim mother residing with her father and child, remains skeptical about the guilt of Syed, an Asian youth discovered at the murder site. Amidst familial obligations, she's summoned to confer with Syed's sibling, Aaliyah. Hasan persuades her to coax Syed into cooperation. However, Syed's enigmatic utterances about predestined events raise eyebrows.
Tension escalates when Syed discharges his firearm in the vicinity of law enforcement, prompting a frantic chase, during which Hasan's intervention prevents a fatal outcome. Nevertheless, Syed ends his own life, prompting Hasan to revisit their encounter spot, driven by the memory of two unattended coffee mugs. Surveillance tapes promise clues.
We're back in 1890, where Hillinghead confronts the curious journalist, Henry Ashe - a fellow gay man risking exposure with his intimate photographs. A failed advance lands Ashe in custody, but a critical snapshot hints at another presence near the initial crime scene. Unwilling to compromise his secret life, Ashe divulges a risqué connection involving the son of a high-ranking officer. Cleared of suspicion, Ashe's information propels Hillinghead on a new investigative trajectory.
A visit to the medical examiner leaves Hillinghead perplexed - the body bears a bullet's entry mark, but no projectile is found, an anomaly echoing findings from 1941 and 2023. The examiner's startled reaction to a photo, followed by a stark warning, adds another layer of mystery.
The 1941 storyline sees Whiteman's secretive task interrupted by Farrell. A subsequent confrontation and an untimely German bombardment eradicate Farrell, thrusting Whiteman into an investigation laced with irony and threat. His failure to fulfill his macabre delivery incites menacing demands for evidence destruction.
In a jarring twist, the episode culminates with a fourth timeline in 2053, introducing Detective Iris Maplewood. She encounters the familiar corpse on Long Harvest Lane, but with a startling deviation - it's alive.
"Bodies" embarks on an ambitious narrative, intertwining four detectives across eras, unified by a mysterious corpse. Despite its novel premise, the show's debut muddles its storytelling, leaving viewers ensnared in a labyrinthine plot teeming with as many gaps as gunshots. While time-travel tropes can captivate, this inaugural episode stumbles, juggling timelines and characters to disorienting effect. The performances shine against rich backdrops, but the convoluted execution overshadows these strengths, offering a cognitive overload rather than a coherent narrative.
