Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
Harlots is a show about a bunch of powerhouse women‘Harlots’ Season 3 Proves it’s Still Hulu’s Most Underrated Gem doing their darnedest to get ahead, so it takes a lot for a man to make any sort of an impact on the show’s proceedings. In Harlots Season 3, one new male character hits the ground running, though. In fact, he’s running, and flirting, and raging, and setting houses on fire. One of Game of Thrones‘s most talented stars, Alfie Allen, joins the ensemble cast of Harlots as Isaac Pincher, a super competitive pimp who comes to London with his eye set on total domination. Standing in his way? Charlotte Wells (Jessica Brown Findlay).
Harlots Season 3 introduces Isaac Pincher calmly enough — at first. He and his boys come to the Wells house for some fun. At first, Pincher and his gang are the ideal customers. They’re flirty and engaging, and the girls seem way into them. Even Charlotte breaks her dry spell and lets Isaac himself not only hit on her, but pay for the privilege of her company. However, when talk turns to business, everything falls apart. Isaac reveals that he is ruthless in pursuit of dominance over Charlotte and her fellow harlots. This, of course, riles Charlotte and it sparks a war between the two would be lovers.
What makes this storyline compelling from the get go is the performance of one Alfie Allen. The actor’s on-screen presence gives Harlots a seismic jolt. Previous antagonists have been sharply drawn aristocrats who revel in their cruelty, or misguided moralists fighting against their own personal desires. Isaac Pincher could be just another bully: a man determined to win by might, not right. However, as his scenes with Charlotte suggest, there is something human lurking beneath the beastly surface. As much as he covets power, a part of him wishes things could be simpler between him and Charlotte. Brown Findlay in turn rises to Allen’s level, deftly showing off the contradictions in Charlotte’s own attraction to Pincher.
There is another reason why the Charlotte/Isaac storyline is wild to watch. As a TV fan, it certainly is surreal to see Harlots Season 3 open with Theon Greyjoy seducing Downton Abbey‘s Lady Sybil. It’s a scintillating crossover even the thirstiest tumblr fan wouldn’t dream up. In one corner, you have Alfie Allen, an actor all-too-talented at giving bad boys a soft interiority. (I’m not going to say “heart of gold,” because it remains to be seen if Isaac Pincher even has a heart.) Then, Jessica Brown Findlay, a tour de force in her own right. Together they are incendiary, literally.
Harlots is a show obsessed with its female characters, and Alfie Allen might just be the best male interloper to the series yet.
