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The Serpent · Season 1 · BBC One / Netflix

The Serpent Season 1

The Serpent Season 1 is a WORTH-IT, BollyMeter 6.8/10. 8 episodes on BBC One / Netflix from 1 January 2021.

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BollyMeter6.8/10The Serpent earned 69% on Rotten Tomatoes from 35 critics and a Metacritic score of 59 from 18 reviews - a mixed reception that praised Tahar Rahim's performance while finding the non-linear storytelling structure frustrating.

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What BollyAI Thinks

The Serpent aired on BBC One from New Year's Day 2021 and reached Netflix internationally shortly after. The series reconstructed Charles Sobhraj's murderous trail through 1970s Thailand and Nepal using a fractured, non-linear timeline that became the subject of significant critical debate. Tahar Rahim's performance as Sobhraj drew near-universal praise - a cool, charming sociopath rendered without explanation or redemption. Jenna Coleman's Marie-Andrée Leclerc was more divisive, with some critics finding her complicity underwritten. The 69% Rotten Tomatoes score from 35 reviews reflected a real split: IndieWire praised the psychological toll the show accumulated across its runtime, while The Hollywood Reporter found the storytelling choices actively counterproductive. Audiences tracked somewhat higher, with IMDb ratings reflecting sustained interest in a story that remained genuinely alarming in its historical particulars.

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The Room

69%critics positive · n=357.4/10IMDb audience
  • “An effectively unsettling, fictionalized telling of the incredible and horrific series of kidnappings and murders perpetrated by Charles Sobhraj.”
    Chicago Sun-Times

Standout Episodes

The hours worth arguing about - premieres, finales, and the turning points. BollyAI reads the room episode by episode.

  1. E1Episode 17.2

    The premiere establishes the show's fragmented timeline and drops the audience into Bangkok 1975 with confidence. Tahar Rahim is immediately unsettling without a single moment of conventional villainy.

    The moment: Sobhraj welcoming a new pair of backpackers with studied hospitality - the scene that defines the show's particular dread.

  2. E8Episode 87.0

    The finale brings the Knippenberg investigation to its conclusion and delivers historical justice in a form that feels both inevitable and inadequate - which is perhaps the most honest thing the show could have done.

    The moment: The confrontation between the diplomat and the killer that the series had been building toward across eight episodes.