‘The Essex Serpent’ Has the Best Knitwear Since ‘Narcos’

Apple TV+‘s The Essex Serpent looks like a show that was made for me. Set in 19th century England, it follows an intrepid widow as she leaves the comforts of London to hunt a mythic sea beast in the countryside. Tom Hiddleston is a hot, nerdy local pastor, Frank Dillane is a handsome young doctor, and people drink a lot of tea for fun. The Essex Serpent should theoretically be my new favorite show.

Unfortunately the best part of this show is Jane Petrie’s fabulous costume design. The Essex Serpent nails the ambiance of a moody period drama, but flails with its slow-paced, tortured storytelling. If you’re going to watch The Essex Serpent, be prepared to swoon over Petrie’s garments, but not much else. That said, the knitwear in The Essex Serpent is in a class by itself and might actually be worth the proverbial cost of admission.

The Essex Serpent is based on the Sarah Perry’s novel of the same name. It’s focused on a fictional mythical beast known as the — you guessed it — Essex Serpent that supposedly haunts a fishing community. (Think the Great Loch Monster, but a big giant snake and in England.) When a local girl goes missing, rumors start that the serpent is responsible. This gossip reaches as far as London, where Cora Seaborne (Claire Danes) is looking for purpose after the death of her abusive older husband. While local doctor Luke Garrett (Frank Dillane) is hoping he can capture Cora’s attentions, she is a nerd for natural history. She takes her loyal maid Martha (Hayley Squires) and young son to Essex, where she attempts to prove the serpent is not only real, but also a holdover from prehistoric times. While there, Cora strikes up a friendship with the local skeptic, a hot married preacher named Will Ransome (Tom Hiddleston).

Now you may think to yourself, “Wow, Cora sounds like a fantastic heroine! She’s a survivor of domestic abuse, a curious thinker, and an intrepid woman in a time when ladies were expected to sit in parlors with needlepoint or whatever.” Actually, I found Cora to be kind of annoying. She is seemingly oblivious to the fact that everyone, including her maid, wants to bone her and keeps misreading social cues left and right. The most interesting thing about Claire Danes’s Cora is her wardrobe.

Cora is dressed in opulent jewel-toned gowns in London and in earthy knit and wools in Essex. Through it all, the silhouette — puffed sleeves with a narrow waist and full skirt — remains the same. I’m not entirely sure it’s historically accurate, but I do know it’s divine. Elsewhere, costume designer Jane Petrie dresses Tom Hiddleston’s low-key Preacher in separates that could have come from a contemporary Barbour catalog. His wife Stella (Clémence Poésy) wears swoon-worthy art-deco inspired dresses that feel bohemian and relaxed. The upper and middle class characters in The Essex Serpents look amazing, thanks to their spectacular knits.

The last time I found myself lusting so much after knitwear in a streaming show was way back when Narcos gave Pablo Escobar a set of nautical sweaters that screamed “yacht rock.” The pieces in The Essex Serpent are far more aspirational, in my opinion. Would that I could rock a full length, balloon-shouldered sweater coat like Cora. Hiddleston’s outfits, on the other hand, are top tier boyfriend wish material.

The Essex Serpent is a rather disappointing period drama, but its costumes are a triumph. Someone give designer Jane Petrie all the awards stat.