9 Years Ago, Florence Pugh Made Her TV Debut in This 3-Season-Long Mystery Show (& It’s Perfect For Bosch Fans)

Florence Pugh is one of the most popular and talented actors of her generation. Before her successful introduction to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, she was best known for her roles in films like Midsommar, Don’t Worry Darling and Oppenheimer. Outside of her film roles, Florence Pugh made her TV debut in an underrated crime series, Marcella, which is perfect for Bosch fans.

British crime dramas are some of the most gripping and captivating, as most of these shows have a strong focus on character development, and Marcella is no different. Much like Bosch and Bosch: Legacy, Marcella also follows a different case per season. Pugh later went on to star in Lady Macbeth and the television film King Lear before finding international success with her film roles in Midsommar, Little Women and Fighting with My Family, but even in her TV debut, fans can see that her talent has been there from the start.

Marcella Almost Wasn’t Florence Pugh’s First TV Role

She First Appeared in the Unaired Pilot of Studio City

Image via BBC FilmsFlorence Pugh’s official TV debut is in the British crime drama Marcella, which debuted in 2016. Before the British crime drama series, Pugh had already made her film debut in the British mystery film The Falling in 2014, where she played Abbie Mortimer. Pugh then went on to appear in the short film Paradise Lost? as Eve, and starred as Katherine Lester in Lady Macbeth, which was released the same year as Marcella.

Before Marcella, Florence Pugh was set to star in Studio City, a drama/comedy series where she would play singer-songwriter Cat, who discovers that her father is a drug dealer selling to other stars. However, Fox never picked up the Studio City pilot. Pugh has previously mentioned in an interview with The Telegraph that she didn’t have the best experience filming Studio City, as she faced a ton pressure to change her appearance. Luckily, she found work again quickly and moved on to Marcella, where she played Cara Thomas in three of the eight episodes of Season 1.

Marcella Season 1 Follows a Complex Cold Case

Marcella Returns To Finish What She Started Before the Show Began

Image via NetflixMarcella Season 1 introduces the titular Marcella Backland, a London detective sergeant who is currently on leave after a personal tragedy. However, she returns to work after a series of murders appear to be connected to an unsolved case she worked on before her leave. Marcella has a suspect in mind, the same suspect she had 11 years ago, but has a hard time proving her suspicions, which puts her at odds with the current lead detective on the case.

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Marcella starts obsessing over her main suspect, Peter Cullen, but her obsession brings heaps of trouble from her coworkers and boss. At the same time, Marcella struggles with her personal life, work challenges, and life as a single woman after 15 years of marriage. She’s a flawed character, but it’s not hard for viewers to root for her success.

Florence Pugh Plays a “Camgirl” Who Gets in a Dangerous Situation

Pugh’s Performance Is Captivating From the Start

Image via Netflix
Image via Netflix

Florence Pugh’s character in Marcella, Cara Thomas, seemingly has no connection with the case Marcella is working on. Cara is a webcam model who meets with married men and women and then steals from them, knowing that because they are married, they most likely won’t report the theft or admit to their cheating. However, things become extremely dangerous for Cara when one of the people she steals from appears to be the killer Marcella is looking for.

Florence Pugh’s Cara helps Marcella and her fellow detectives get new leads on the case and is an integral figure in Season 1. Pugh is able to showcase her acting skills right from the start with a character who’s complicated, troubled, and vulnerable. Marcella isn’t just a great crime drama series, it’s an excellent display of Pugh’s talent. Throughout each of her appearances in Marcella, she proves captivating enough that her smaller role still has a lasting impact on viewers.

Marcella Is Also Perfect for Bosch Fans

Marcella & Harry Have Things in Common

Image via Netflix
Image via Netflix
Image via Amazon Studios
Image via Amazon Studios

While Harry Bosch and Marcella Backland might not be the most similar on paper, they still share a few common traits that fans of Bosch and Bosch: Legacy will enjoy. Their biggest similarities lie in how Marcella and Harry conduct investigations; both of them having a hard time following orders and instead often go with their gut. Both Marcella and Harry have a hard time trusting and respecting authority, and they frequently go on solo missions, steadfast in their professional opinions.

However, Marcella and Bosch have more than enough differences to make them unique and original shows. Marcella is more character-driven and focuses more on Marcella’s family and personal struggles, especially her disorder, which causes her to have ‘blackouts’ and forget anything that happened or what she did. This not only affects her personal life but her job as well; she can’t control these blackouts, and they sometimes happen in the middle of an investigation or in a setting that puts her in danger.

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Marcella and Bosch also follow a single case per season, which allows them to focus on character development and allows audiences enough time to get fully invested in the criminal procedure. Both shows have short seasons — Marcella has eight episodes per season, while Bosch and Bosch: Legacy consist of 10 episodes per season (bar Bosch Season 7, which had only eight episodes). There’s very little room for filler in both TV shows, and this shorter episode count keeps the tensions high throughout.

Marcella creator Hans Rosenfeldt has seemingly no interest or plans for Marcella Season 4 in the near future. However, Rosenfeldt did leave the door open for a fourth season if the story is right, or a potential spin-off, which could be focused on Frank, who joined the series in Marcella Season 3. But while talks about a potential fourth season are very much up in the air, fans of Florence Pugh and Bosch should put Marcella on their watch list. Pugh is captivating in Season 1, and Anna Friel’s Marcella journey as she juggles her personal life and the dangerous investigations are just as gripping.

Every season of Marcella is to stream on Netflix.