Stream It Or Skip It?
It’s always quite a task to take on a classic novel and try to make either a sequel or prequel. In the case of Nautilus, originally produced for Disney+, and picked up by AMC for US viewers after Prime Video streamed it outside the US in 2024, we are seeing the origin story of Captain Nemo, the main character in Jules Verne’s 1870 novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea.
NAUTILUS: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening Shot: After a graphic explaining that in 1857, the British East India Mercantile Company is more powerful than any nation, we see a ship off the coast of India, near Bombay (now Mumbai).
The Gist: The ship, helmed by Captain Youngblood (Jacob Collins-Levy) is carrying, among its crew and cargo, a young woman named Humility Lucas (Georgia Flood) and her assistant Loti (Céline Menville). The crew spots what they think is a sea monster, but it turns out to be a submarine, which rams the ship and almost splits it in two. As the crew bails into boats, the sub surfaces and a man named Nemo (Shazad Latif) comes out.
Eight hours earlier, in Kalpani, India, Nemo is among a group of imprisoned and enslaved workers who are helping to build and launch the submersible, named Nautilus. But he has a plan. And when he hears the sub’s designer, Gustave Benoit (Thierry Frémont), who designed the sub with the purpose of exploring the depths of the ocean, argue with Crawley (Damien Garvey), the director of the company, who wants to use the sub for battle, he puts the plan into motion.
The idea is to take over the sub with the help of Benoit, and Nemo and his fellow captives do just that, though they lose one of Nemo’s closest allies. Another prisoner, Suyin (Ling Cooper Tang), gets on the sub and is ready to do whatever is needed. When the Nautilus runs into Youngblood’s ship, Nemo demands only the women and children come aboard. That means Humility, Loti and a young lookout nicknamed Blaster (Kayden Price).
While Humility, who was sailing towards a reluctant meetup with her new fiancé, complains about being held captive, the operation of the sub fascinates her, and she helps out when the power goes out and the ballast pumps stop working. Before that happens, though, Nemo tells the crew and Benoit about the real purpose of why he wanted the sub: To sail north to a Norse queen’s supposed burial ground, with untold treasures. Meanwhile, back in India, Crawley commissions Youngblood to captain an iron ship to go after Nemo, with the help of army captain Billy Millais (Luke Arnold).
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Nautilus, created by James Dormer, is an origin story for Nemo, the main character in Jules Verne’s novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea, and the story has that same kind of verve. At times, it feels like a nautical version of Doctor Who.
Our Take: Nautilus sets up a swashbuckling story where Captain Nemo is less of the hero and more of a ballsy guy whose motives may not be as pure as he led his followers to believe. It helps that the the cast, especially Latif and Flood, are excellent and the Nautilus set itself is a visual feast.
There’s a lot about that set that keeps Verne’s vision of a submersible ship intact. There’s spikes that make the sub look like that sea monster Youngblood first thought he saw, and there are ornate windows and what seems like brass almost everywhere.
So while you are amazed by the ornateness of the sets, the group around Nemo will start to gel. Not everyone trusts him, especially after he states his true reason for wanting to steal the sub. And integrating Humility — who is likely to become a love interest — Loti and Blaster into the mix will be a source of some tension and maybe even a little humor.
We’d like to see the rest of the crew become a bit more than just a Greek chorus to reflect back what Nemo is doing. But the adventures Nemo takes this crew on as he’s being chased by Youngblood and Millias, should make for a fun, fast-moving show.
Sex and Skin: None in the first episode, and we imagine the show will stay pretty chaste.
Parting Shot: As the sub sinks further towards the bottom of the ocean, Nemo finally turns to Humility, who says she knows of a way to manually pump air into the ballast tanks.
Sleeper Star: Damien Garvey is nicely evil as the greedy Crawley, who is much more ruthless than anyone he’s ordering to find and kill Nemo and his crew.
Most Pilot-y Line: “Nemo! I’ll see you’re hunted until the ends of the earth,” says Crawley. “You’ll be hunting in the wrong place!” replies Nemo.
Our Call: STREAM IT. Nautilus is a visually fun, family-friendly new chapter in the story of Captain Nemo, which keeps the action moving throughout its first episode.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.