Bodies Netflix: How Does This Twist Set the Stage For Seasons 2 Possibility?
Time travel narratives always hold a fascination in the world of science fiction. The series Bodies available on Netflix, based on the DC Vertigo graphic novel written by Si Spencer, takes us through the decades, going from the present to 1890 and forward to 2053. Set in London, this captivating series features a talented cast, including Amaka Okafor, Shira Haas, Stephen Graham, Jacob-Fortune Lloyd, and Kyle Soller, who many may recognize from the first season of “Andor”. With an intriguing premise, Bodies takes us on a journey that begins when Detective Sergeant Shahara Hasan, played by Okafor, comes across the mysterious naked body of a man, dead in a side alley in London. The body appears to have appeared out of nowhere, with a bullet wound in the left eye and a strange mark on the wrist, almost like a tattoo. Three other detectives from different eras come across this same body, fueling suspense as they try to unravel its identity and understand why it keeps appearing in the same place over time.
The Plot of Bodies
Bodies take us through four distinct eras in London, before and after the Second World War. DS Hasan begins her investigation in 2023, trying to unravel the mystery behind the body. However, the series takes us back to 1890, the post-Jack the Ripper era, in the same area of the city that became famous as Whitechapel. There, Detective Inspector Alfred Hillingshead, played by Soller, comes across the same body, approximately 130 years before Hasan’s discovery. Then DS Charles Whiteman, played by Lloyd, finds the body again, this time in 1941, during the German Luftwaffe bombing raids in the Second World War. Finally, we flash forward to the future and meet DC Iris Maplewood, played by Haas, who is working on the same case in 2053. The smooth switching between these eras heightens the suspense as the characters try to uncover the identity of the dead man and why it keeps appearing in the same position, in the same alley, over time.
Elias Mannix/Sir Julian Harker: The Pivotal Character?
To understand the outcome of Bodies it is essential to know Elias Mannix, played by Stephen Graham, the volatile chief of police in 2053. Mannix is DC Maplewood’s superior and tasks her with investigating what he believes to be a subversive terrorist group planning to detonate a nuclear bomb in the heart of London. Maplewood is led to believe that a group called Chapel Perilous is organizing in the city and wants to undo everything Mannix did to establish a dystopian “order” in London in 2053. However, we discover that Mannix is also the cunning opportunist of 1890 and 1941, where he is known as Sir Julian Harker. Harker is a con man who profits by buying and selling stocks based on information about the future.
He’s found a time travel portal in 2053 called “The Throat” and is creating a world in which the 15-year-old version of himself in 2023 finally knows what it’s like to be loved. In 2023, Harker/Mannix is an orphaned teenager who turned to crime and drug abuse after being abandoned by his parents. Future Mannix is trying to go back in time and create an alternative life to escape his miserable life in the present. Therefore, Harker is an older version of the teenage Elias Mannix, whom we see DS Hasan work so hard to form a bond with throughout the series.
Breaking the Time Loop: The Role of Detectives and the Physicist?
When Hasan makes the connection between the troubled teenager named Elias Mannix and the time-traveling iteration of Mannix/Harker, all four detectives and a physicist named Dr. Gabriel Dafoe, played by Tom Mothersdale, play crucial roles in preventing the plot of Mannix’s attempt to kill half a million innocent Londoners comes to fruition. Iris Maplewood pursues Mannix, who enters the Throat portal to establish his insane plan. She ends up in an 1890s prison cell alongside DS Hillingshead and convinces him that she is from the future. She explains that Harker is a deadly time traveler who must be stopped. Eventually, we discover that the mysterious body that kept turning up dead over time is that of Dr. Dafoe. The outcome comes down to just three people: DS Hasan, DS Whiteman, and the time-traveling teenager, Mannix.
The “On the Record” that Links Past and Future?
Throughout the season, Harker/Mannix leaves vinyl records as a kind of diary, keeping the audience informed about what’s going on. The most important record Mannix dictates is one from himself in 1941 to the younger Mannix in 2023. Upon realizing he has failed to change anything in his life, he sends one last message which Whiteman delivers to Hasan after shooting and killing Mannix. In this record, the older version of Mannix tries to convince the younger version not to detonate the bomb. He explains, as he dies, that he is loved and that he sought to define love in a wrong and evil way. The older Elias Mannix convinces the younger one that he must love himself and realize that he is worthy of the love of others as well. In an emotional climax, the Mannix of 2023 tears up the small paper with the cell phone’s bomb detonation number and is embraced by Hasan and his mother, who had given him up for adoption over a decade ago. The time loop has finally been broken, but the teenage Mannix disappears, as he is no longer part of the current space-time continuum.
The Ending and the Possibility of a 2nd Season of Bodies?
The last scene of Bodies opens the door to a possible second season. We see Shahara Hasan getting into an Uber, anxious. She asks the driver to take her to Spencer Street, a tribute to the author of the graphic novel. A soft song, “What a Difference a Day Makes,” plays on the radio, and Hasan asks the driver to turn up the volume. She looks out the window and expresses her concerns about the city’s future. Surprisingly, the driver responds, indicating that she understands her concerns. The scene ends with a close-up in the rearview mirror, revealing what appears to be Iris Maplewood, the DC from 2053 who should have disappeared when the time loop was broken. The meeting between the two characters from different eras opens up a range of intriguing possibilities for future seasons of Bodies.
