Starting off with the dim glow of a candle light as well as the sound of a knife scraping skin, the first season of new television series “Harry Wild” is intriguing and mysterious with a side of hilarity stemming from the characters’ wild personalities. 

The series, which came out in 2022, has been consistently climbing the ranks of TV shows, managing to get a 50% on Rotten Tomatoes. The star of the show, Harriet “Harry” Wild is portrayed by Jane Seymour as a clever retired English college professor who loves to solve mysteries. Her son Charlie is a chief detective in the local Dublin police department. Harry’s sidekick, Fergus, her go-to for odd jobs, Glen, and Charlie add incredible humor and fun to the story. It’s one of the better shows I’ve watched in a while.  

After looking through one of Charlie’s case files, Harry is intrigued by the peculiar nature of the crime. Despite Charlie’s reservations, Harry chooses to help him solve the case. After that initial case, Harry makes it a point to let him know about any other crimes she witnesses. She also helps Charlie if she gets a feeling that the case is not being handled properly.

Harry’s sidekick, a 14-year-old high school junior named Fergus, assists Harry in investigating crimes. In return, she helps him with his English class, a subject he finds extremely boring because of a surplus of essays and complicated literature. Short clips of her coaching Fergus add a breath of fresh air to the crime-oriented show. Fergus’ hilarious personality and easy-going attitude contrasts so well with the usually brave and coolheaded Harry.

The first episode pulls the watcher in. It starts off with a clip of the murderer, with his victim lying on the floor, the camera switches without context to a shot of Harry Wild giving her retirement speech at the university where she works. While walking home, she is mugged by a teenager. 

From there she goes to her son Charlie’s house, but before that, she acquires a taser from her friend Glen. At Charlie’s house, she finds the case file of the murder from start of the episode and peruses it. After flipping through the details, she finds out a woman has been kidnapped by the same person, and she realizes it completely matches the details of an old English play. After telling Charlie about this, she is promptly kicked out of the house for looking through confidential documents. 

Even though the show is mostly crime-related, the characters’ hilarious dialogue as well as the adventurous personality pulled me into the show. The first episode showcases Harry and Fergus’s teamwork skills quite well, and Harry’s retirement speech at her university did a great job at displaying her witty humor.

I loved this series. Harry’s character is depicted extremely well as a quippy old person who loves to quote significant works of literature and solve mysteries. With a seemingly endless array of knowledge by her side due to a career in English, she is often able to relate crimes back to old works of literature or pieces of history, which further fuels her determination to solve crimes. Her burning passion for the job is so intoxicating that you just can’t stop watching.

The first season of Harry Wild has been substantial so far, with a second season in the works. I’m sure that with her budding skills as a detective as well as a handy partner, Harry will be sure to stick around to solve more crimes.