Hand of God: Ron Perlman wrestles with morality and religion in Amazon’s new drama

The guy who played Hellboy, going through hell. That could be the one-line pitch for Hand of God, Amazon’s latest self-funded foray into original drama. After last year’s bleak pilot, the full 10-episode first season is available to righteously binge on from today. It stars deeply furrowed character actor Ron Perlman as a notorious hanging judge in San Vicente, the (fictional) Californian town his ancestors helped establish. But the big man with the gavel has unravelled – his son has been in a coma for seven months and counting, the result of a suicide bid after being forced to witness the sexual assault of his wife.

Driven to despair, Judge Pernell Harris starts experiencing unsettling visions, including cryptic instructions seemingly issued by his unconscious son. After a spiritual epiphany, the judge embarks on his own ad-hoc vigilante campaign to hunt down the criminals responsible for attacking his daughter-in-law, recruiting a fervently religious but volatile convict (Garret Dillahunt) to do most, but not all, of his dirty work. Intriguingly, the judge’s spiritual awakening doesn’t seem to deter him from pursuing his other corrupt shenanigans in San Vicente, notably helping push through a major development deal with the mayor (Andre Royo).