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While I'm not a fan of the genre (nor am I familiar with the game), Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsay (both deliver great performances in Game of Thrones) are most certainly names to watch out for. This is not a high budget, glossy HBO production, however. But it definitely holds up to many "big" shows, with a flair reminiscent of Stranger Things, a show I really enjoy. The CGI could be better but the creative story with a special focus on different new characters and topics each episode (at least over the past few episodes) makeup for the budgetary deficiencies. The show is not perfect, especially the first episode, but it's definitely worth and fun to watch and hopefully will get more budget next season.

TV shows are made from many different ingredients and in the case of The Chemistry... some are good but unfortunately it's the bad ones that give the flavor. The good ones: main cast is solid, cinematography nice and the overall feel one of a high quality production inspired by shows like True Detective. But the main plot and every second scene just make no sense, so much so that you watch with growing resistance. And it's not just the emotionally incredulous things like having flashbacks of your dead baby girl running happily on a beach while you're in a ruined cottage with a horribly burned and disfigured murder victim or technicalities like having a SWAT team on standby in a small village. It's even mundane things like people wearing rain coats in a storm but never zipped and not putting hoods on, professional police investigators leaving bagged evidence scattered all over the murder scene or knowing a big storm is coming but not securing a body in an already weather damaged shack. I really wanted to love this show. Instead I just grew more and more irritaded with each episode. A shame cause it could've been a really iconic show and Threadway has potential to pull off a complex, disturbed yet charismatic character, the likes of Sherlock Holmes.

The show is unusual in the sence of going beyond genres and combining elements of sci-fi, historical costume drama, mystery and crime elements. Which will also inevitably make it challenging for some audiences who prefer more conventional stories. The acting, the costumes, the sets and the screenplay are great altogether, making up a compelling high-end production. The storyline isn't overly complicated and the sci-fi elements remain in the background until the last episode with a twist I totally didn't see coming. I particularly enjoyed the overall authentic feel of the Victorian London, the acting that lets you root for the characters and how the show addresses the issues of feminism and diversity. Also the intriguing approach to enlightenment and the industrial revolution which seem somehow fantastic in itself when set across the background of the emerging 19th century with horse carriages, long dresses and the patriarchal class society. If you enjoyed the shows like The Carnival Row, The Alienist or The Irregulars, you're probably going to love this one as well.