In 2023, Hulu quietly released The Artful Dodger over the holiday season. The series presented itself as an inventive twist on Charles Dickens’ Victorian masterpiece, Oliver Twist. But rather than focusing on Dickens’ titular orphan, the series took the eponymous “Dodger” — known here as Jack Dawkins (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) — and set him on a new path in life, one that saw him join the Royal Navy and eventually make a life for himself as a surgeon in the British Colony of Australia. Of course, Fagin (David Thewlis) wasn’t far behind him, putting a strain upon Jack’s new life. While the series sold itself as a sort of historical heist-meets-medical drama, The Artful Dodger’s greatest selling point was the romance between Jack and Lady Belle Fox (Maia Mitchell), the Governor’s daughter-turned-budding medical professional. After all, everyone loves a pair of star-crossed lovers, especially when the odds are stacked against them. With Bridgerton satisfying everyone’s Regency romance dreams on Netflix, Hulu is here to satisfy bluestocking romance fans with The Artful Dodger.
How Has ‘The Artful Dodger’ Changed Between Season 1 and 2?
Season 2 picks up six months after the events of the finale, which left audiences with a major cliffhanger to agonize over for a little over two years. Jack has spent the intervening months in prison, following Captain Gaines’s (Damon Herriman) arrest of him on false pretenses. Despite Belle’s best efforts, the morning of Jack’s execution has finally arrived. Naturally, no one would expect the titular character to be killed off in the first few minutes of a brand-new season, but the way The Artful Dodger handles the situation makes it feel very, very likely that we — and, more importantly, Belle — may actually see Jack hanged. When he doesn’t, the consequences of his last-minute salvation force the paramours apart in ways that arc across the entirety of the season and push the limits of their connection, even as just friends and colleagues.
The Artful Dodger Season 2 feels like a brand-new series, with new costume designer Marion Boyce and new set designer Gabrielle S. Carey working in tandem to usher in a lusher, more glorious world for Dickens’ colorful cast of literary characters to live out their expanded existences in Australia. Coupled with a pair of new directors, Ben Young (The Twelve, Clickbait) and Ben C. Lucas (Nautilus, The Survivors) joining Gracie Otto (Heartbreak High, Deadloch), one of Season 1’s trio of directors; and Kate Mulvany and Miranda Tapsell joining James McNamara and Andrew Knight as writers, the series dodges the anticipated sophomore slump, by honing and refining what makes the series so spectacular.
One of the best parts of The Artful Dodger’s first season was the way that it took Dickens’ work and expanded upon it — not just in breathing new life into characters like Jack and Fagin, but in the handling of its female characters. While Dickens created many of the most memorable women in Victorian literature (from Nancy to Estella), he had a terrible habit of killing them off as a comeuppance or treating them like “angels of the hearth” —and then killing them off for straying from that image. Season 1 showcased how Belle and her sister, Fanny (Lucy-Rose Leonard), were very different types of women. Belle craved freedom, agency, and a medical career, while Fanny yearned to be a wife.
Thomas Brodie-Sangster Crafted Two Subtly Different Versions of Jack in ‘The Artful Dodger’
He stars opposite David Thewlis in the Hulu series.
Season 2 builds on those dynamics in completely unexpected ways. Belle may still be determined to achieve her dreams of practicing medicine, but she starts to consider what “settling down” might look like for her. Now that her potential future with Jack is on ice for at least two years, the series introduces some certified husband material to shake things up and continue driving a wedge between Jack and Belle. As Inspector Henry Boxer (Luke Bracey) settles into his new post, maintaining the safety and security of Port Victory, he is quickly enamored with Belle and determined to pin Jack for a series of murders in the port that bear the hallmarks of a surgical hand. The Artful Dodger could have easily leaned into tropes that would have made audiences root against Henry as a viable option for Belle, but his tragic backstory and caring personality quickly endear him to the viewer. Worry not, Dodgerfoxes; the series is very clear that Jack and Belle are destined for each other, but Henry is torn straight out of the pages of a historical romance and designed to make you adore him.
After spending the first season looking for romance, Fanny finally finds her one true love this season — and surprisingly, it isn’t a man or any one person in particular, but rather a passion for crime. While Belle struggles with Jack’s criminal past and what it means for their future, Fanny becomes strange bedfellows with Fagin’s band of pickpockets, cheats, and crooks. Her transformation into a criminal doesn’t change Fanny much. She remains relatively aloof and guileless, but it does give her a new edge. Despite being the weakest character in Season 1, Fanny’s storyline makes her the true standout of Season 2.
David Thewlis Remains ‘The Artful Dodger’s Heart and Soul
Fagin is up to his same old antics in Season 2. After Jack avoids the hangman’s noose thanks to Fagin’s clever schemes, he pushes to legitimize Fagin & Son, much to Jack’s blatant disinterest. He also seizes on the fractured status of Jack’s relationship with Belle to fully destabilize it, and while the couple manages to overcome the miscommunication trope that Fagin foists upon them, his criminal enterprise ultimately shatters the tenuous romance.
For over forty years, Thewlis has made a name for himself on the stage and the screen, bringing to life some of the most iconic characters, nay villains, for the better part of his career. While he has given numerous memorable performances where it was evident that he was having a brilliant time with the material, never before has he had a role that seems so pitch-perfect for him that it elevates the performance to previously unseen levels. It is a shame that The Artful Dodger is the sort of series that flies under the radar of award bodies, because it is — without a doubt — Thewlis’ career-best performance. He balances this sort of mischievous joy that Fagin derives from his crimes, while always maintaining an undercurrent of malevolence that forces you to grapple with Fagin as friend and foe rolled into one.
The status quo is much the same for Fagin between the two seasons, as he continues searching for new ways to amass untold riches, but it doesn’t lessen the impact of his character to have him be the one constant within the story. No matter what he says, ultimately, we, as the audience, know that he will never change, and his rare glimmers of emotional vulnerability are just part of his criminal crusades. That said, the way he takes Fanny under his wing and shepherds her into a life of crime is an unexpectedly delightful turn for the series, especially when Jack is so unwilling to return to his former life of crime. At least someone wants to be Fagin’s protégé. The culmination of Fagin’s storyline in Season 2 makes a third season not just a want but a need. While Jack’s perilous situation at the end of Season 1 was undoubtedly dire, there was never a question that Sangster would make a return for subsequent seasons. Without Fagin, it’s hard to imagine the series having the same entertainment value.
‘The Artful Dodger’ Expands Its Scope in Season 2
During the run of Season 1, The Artful Dodger used Oliver Twist to its full advantage, with not just Jack and Fagin, but with Oliver Twist himself (Hal Cumpston) arriving towards the back half of the series. Season 2 mirrors this by introducing a true villainous foil for the entire cast to contend with in their own ways — and this time, it’s a villain plucked from another Dickens novel. David Copperfield’s treacherous Uriah Heep (Benedict Hardie) arrives in Port Victory with a singularly disgusting ailment and a belly full of ill intent. Smarmy literary antagonists aren’t the only villains in Season 2, especially for Jack and Belle. The Artful Dodger delves deeper into why Belle’s mother, Lady Jane (Susie Porter), is so reluctant to allow her to pursue a romance with Jack, and it’s a hard-won explanation with some brilliant character work along the way. In the same vein, the series gives Professor Alistair McGregor (Kim Gyngell) a wholly unexpected plot that hints at game-changing dynamics at the hospital in a potential Season 3.
From both a technical and narrative standpoint, The Artful Dodger expands its scope in Season 2. The underlying mystery is as compelling and surprising as the central storyline playing out between Jack and Belle. The writers manage to balance a robust ensemble while never straying too far off course and work to build up each character with their own unique journey. The Artful Dodger‘s Season 2 return guarantees that viewers will remember it as one of the decade’s best historical series.
Season 2 of The Artful Dodger arrives February 10 on Hulu.
The Artful Dodger
A bluestocking historical romance brought to life.
- Release Date
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November 29, 2023
- Network
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Disney+
- Directors
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Jeffrey Walker, Corrie Chen, Gracie Otto
Pros & Cons
- The Artful Dodger Season 2 builds upon a strong debut by building off what worked and introducing new voices into the writer’s room.
- Luke Bracey is a pitch-perfect newcomer to the series as Inspector Henry Boxer.
- David Thewlis continues to be the heart and soul of The Artful Dodger, delivering a career-best performance in the role of a lifetime.
- The Artful Dodger doesn’t shy away from the romance that made it a hit with audiences in Season 1, and Season 2 builds upon Jack and Belle’s dynamics in ways that keeps the relationship very grounded as they navigate a new status quo for it.
