Peacock’s ‘Noughts + Crosses’ Doesn’t Live Up to the Power of Its Premise
On paper, Peacock’s Noughts + Crosses should have been a buzzy summer hit – a cultural conversation starter a la Hulu’s The Handmaid's Tale that arrived at a perfect and necessary moment, pushing its viewers toward necessary conversations about issues of race and cultural privilege.
In actuality, the drama fizzles out before it ever really gets started, squandering a truly original premise and setting on the altar of flat characters and a pointlessly forced romance. I know, I know, it’s based on a young adult book, and that’s the plot of the book – and don’t get me wrong, I generally love YA fiction. But though I would happily watch more stories set in the Noughts + Crosses world – with its deeply layered societal structures and alternate global history – I could do just fine without ever seeing more of its two protagonists.
Noughts + Crosses is set in a present-day version of London, more than 700 years after the Aprican Empire invaded Europe and colonized the continent, including the island of Albion. This fictional version of England has been ruled by this stand-in for Africa ever since, and their culture has developed and adapted accordingly.
