Emmy Rossum’s new Hulu thriller, Furious, confronts abuse, exploitation and sexual violence without using graphic flashbacks to recreate what its characters endured.
Rossum, who stars as FBI agent Alice Black and serves as an executive producer, said the creative team deliberately focused on the lasting effects of trauma rather than turning violence against women into spectacle.
The eight-episode series explores disturbing subject matter, but Rossum believes showing how abuse continues to shape survivors can be more meaningful than showing the abuse itself.
The Series Focuses on the Effects of Violence
Rossum told Us Weekly that “nothing is gratuitous” in Furious. Although several characters have histories involving violence and exploitation, the series does not rely on flashbacks depicting those experiences. Viewers see the specific ways trauma affects the characters’ present-day relationships, decisions and understanding of justice.
“There are no flashbacks that are showing the violence against them,” Rossum said. “But we feel that in every aspect of them.” She argued that examining how a person’s history continues to affect their life can carry greater emotional weight than showing the original violence onscreen.
Rossum also described Furious as a production made mostly by women, saying that perspective can be felt in its treatment of female characters and survivors.
The Characters Are Not Written as ‘Perfect Victims’
Series creator Elizabeth Meriwether wanted to challenge television’s tendency to portray survivors as morally uncomplicated figures who always respond to violence in ways an audience finds sympathetic. “Often on television, we see women who are victims as perfect victims,” Meriwether told Us Weekly.
She said Furious instead examines how abuse can manifest in unexpected ways and push people toward difficult or troubling choices. Rossum’s Alice is a former NYPD homicide detective who begins the series at the bottom of the FBI hierarchy as a probationary duty agent. She left her former department after reporting that Marshall, her fellow officer and longtime partner, had abused her.
Marshall, played by Jake Lacy, remains part of the law-enforcement world Alice must navigate. Her experience with him shapes both her isolation and her determination to pursue cases involving women and girls who have been failed by powerful institutions. Alice’s work eventually places her on the trail of Catherine, a calculating serial killer played by Lola Petticrew.
Catherine targets men who prey on girls, forcing the series to examine the difference between legal justice and violent revenge. As their lives begin to intersect, Alice’s pursuit of a murderer becomes entangled with questions about which victims receive protection, whose testimony is believed and what happens when established systems refuse to act.
Lola Petticrew Researched the Role Without Exploiting Survivors
Petticrew said preparing to play Catherine required research into experiences resembling those faced by the show’s fictional characters. The actor wanted enough knowledge to approach the material responsibly without treating the experiences of real survivors as creative material to be consumed.
They described that balance as “delicate work.” Meriwether directed Petticrew toward books and videos that could provide context, while the scripts supplied much of the emotional foundation needed to understand Catherine without simplifying or excusing her actions.
Petticrew also made a conscious effort not to remain psychologically immersed in the role after leaving the set. “You can’t do that if you let the work eat away at you,” they said, crediting the cast and crew with maintaining a supportive atmosphere during production.
‘Furious’ Blurs the Line Between Justice and Revenge
Furious is loosely adapted from the 1987 film Black Widow, but Meriwether expanded the premise into a broader examination of trauma, female rage and institutions that fail people seeking protection. The official Hulu synopsis describes Alice and Catherine as women following their own paths toward justice while the line between right and wrong becomes increasingly difficult to identify.
Meriwether created, wrote and executive produced the series, while Rossum executive produced through her company, Composition 8. Furious premiered July 27 on Hulu with its first three episodes. The remaining five episodes will be released weekly on Mondays, with the season finale scheduled for August 31.