The Real Reason Why Shōgun Is Such a Runaway Hit

Over the weekend, I found myself hesitant to press play on Shōgun, FX’s new hit show adapted from James Clavell’s bestselling novel. That’s not because I was suspicious of the rapturous early critical response to the limited series or because I didn’t trust the creators to adjust some of the Orientalist motifs present in the source material. No, my reluctance was much more primitive: I simply didn’t want to endure what would almost certainly be an agonizing dirge of exposition.