Is It SAFE?

Article first published as TV Review: SAFE on Seat42F.

NETFLIX recently added a French series to their drama lineup called SAFE. While it is technically a production of France, the series is set in Britain, the characters speak English, and Netflix is carrying it globally. It also stars a familiar face to the United States, Michael C. Hall, so it is plenty accessible to an American audience.

SAFE feels like a typical British crime show. It is eight episodes long, with an ongoing story confined to a single season. (I assume; I’ve only watched six of the eight hours so far, but that’s the typical pattern for such a show.) The parent-looking-for-child plot is a common one in recent memory. The characters are more complex and the story more compelling than an American procedural, but it’s still a relatively formulaic structure that matches other similar shows.

What is a bit unique about SAFE is how many dark secrets are harbored by all the residents of the gated community in which the series is set. It reminds me a bit of J.K. Rowling’s The Casual Vacancy, except because of the narrowed point of view (the series mainly following two characters), the audience is less clued in until the twists reveal themselves to one of the protagonists. A good number of these twists fit together in surprising ways. It seems a well-thought-out series, with defined characters who serve specific purpose, tight in its execution.

The storytelling is mostly linear, but there are occasional flashbacks to give us pieces of the puzzle. These are handled well, natural to the way the investigation is unfolding, and don’t feel forced or gimmicky. Dividing each episode into “Day One,” “Day Two,” and so forth is actually more misleading, as the installments aren’t confined to a day, even in the present-day story line. The inclusion of those words at the start is unnecessary and awkward.

Many reviews of SAFE have complained about Hall’s atrocious British accent, so I won’t go there. I didn’t find it distracting, and Hall is an excellent dramatic actor. His character of Tom Delaney, a man who is obsessed with investigating his daughter’s disappearance despite warnings from the police and his girlfriend not to, is different enough from his Dexter and Six Feet Under characters to feel fresh for him. Even if the role is a bit stock, Hall does it very well.

Besides Hall, the second most familiar face is Amanda Abbington, who played Mary in the BBC series Sherlock. She is the second lead in SAFE, a cop who is estranged from her husband and sleeping with Tom. She is also the one doing the official investigation into not just Tom’s daughter’s disappearance, but a murder and a pedophilia charge, as well. Abbington is terrific, and it’s nice to see her in a bigger role after her previous turn.

The rest of the cast, while not as recognizable, is also strong. There do not seem to be any weak links among the actors. In fact, many of them leave me wanting more screen time, though in a quick series like this, that won’t happen. At least not unless it comes back for a second season.

Overall, I like SAFE. It plays it a little safe (hehe) by sticking to a structure that has been tried and found true many times across the pond. But it also has its own little touches and performances that make it a high quality offering in the genre. If you’re looking for something ground-breaking, this isn’t it. But if you just want a good mystery to pass the time, SAFE is one of the better available candidates.

SAFE’s entire first season is available now on Netflix.

SWEET and BITTER

Article first published as TV Review: SWEETBITTER on Seat42F.

One of Starz’s newest half hour dramas is SWEETBITTER, based on the Stephanie Danler novel of the same name. In it, Tess slips away from her home to move to New York City with barely any money or possessions to her name. Finding a cheap flat, selling her car for rent money, she desperately looks for work until she lands at one of the best restaurants in the city as a waitress. But will she survive the demanding work and low pay in the service industry to find her dreams realized? And what exactly are those dreams?

SWEETBITTER doesn’t make clear what Tess (Ella Purnell, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children) wants or what she’s doing in the Big Apple in the first episode. Instead, it seems the audience is just expected to understand her passion, shared by so many who have come before her. Tess’s journey is so much a trope that, until one stops to really consider it, it’s easy to miss the most basic, all-important details about the protagonist are entirely missing. We’re not even really told or shown where she’s from. This is just the stereotypical young person fleeing to the big city plot, a classic coming of age in a fresh, exciting world for a fish out of water, that has been done so often.

That being said, SWEETBITTER isn’t terrible. The cast is filled with fine performers like Caitlin FitzGerald (Masters of Sex), Paul Sparks (House of Cards), Tom Sturridge (On the Road), and Evan Jonigkeit (X-Men: Days of Future Past). Sparks, in particular, stands out, always great at playing the observer in a busy situation. Here, he’s Howard, the boss in the restaurant, but he still listens more than he talks, exuding quiet authority. It’s an ensemble cast that works, and that’s why one may forget about the glaring omissions. For a little while, anyway.

What is more concerning is the question, does SWEETBITTER know where it wants to go? The entire first episode is just Tess looking for employment, meeting all the other characters, and working through her first shift in the restaurant. The majority of the running time is spent on the last item of that list. So while we can see the type of person she is in a particular situation, we’re not sure what she hopes to accomplish or why she came, which means it isn’t clear where the story is heading. If the writers know this, great, but eventually they’re going to have to start showing it.

Instead, the series seems more concerned with the journey, which is a valid choice, if there were only a little bit better established structure around it. Tess takes moments in the chaos to savor an exotic food or talk to an old lady, and that’s fine. Those are interesting moments. But they would be all the more poignant if we understood the context or what they mean to her, rather than just taking at face value that these things are helping her to grow. How? And towards what?

SWEETBITTER seems to be all style and tone, without the depth of substance to support it. It’s enjoyable, but superficial. Given that it is based on a novel, presumably there’s a story set to emerge. But what works in the written world, a slow set up, may not be as satisfying in the television industry, where the end is less defined and there’s less certainty of a payoff, even a less than satisfying one. Hopefully, the next few installments will fill in the gaps, essential if the series wants to attract much of an audience.

SWEETBITTER airs Sundays on Starz.

Dyin' La VIDA Loca

Article first published as TV Review: VIDA on Seat42F.

Starz premiered a pair of two new half hour shows this week. While traditionally half hour programs are comedies, Starz has broken that mold more than once, and VIDA, one of the newbies, is certainly a drama. When the titular character dies, unseen by viewers, sisters Emma (Mishel Prada, Fear the Walking Dead: Passage) and Lyn (Melissa Barrera, Siempre Tuya Acapulco) return home for the funeral and to take care of her affairs. But secrets come out and circumstances conspire to keep the two tied to the Eastside of Los Angeles, the heavily Mexican-American neighborhood they grew up in.

Prada and Barrera are excellent as the two siblings at the center of VIDA. Their interactions reveal gobs of backstory. While much of their rocky relationship seems familiar and relatable, they are fully formed individuals, not stock characters. This allows us to both quickly understand the dynamic between them, but also not to give away a predictable story. The best scenes of the pilot are any time the two of them are talking to one another. Thankfully the premise sets this up to be a big part of the series.

Their first obstacle, and probably the biggest they face, is that their mother’s property is to be split three ways, not two. The reveal that Vida’s roommate, Eddy (Ser Anzoategui, East Los High), is actually her widow is far from a surprise, obvious from the moment the character is introduced. But despite the stereotype the character visually appears to be, she quickly reveals herself to be a more rounded personality, sympathetic and warm. Eddy is much more than a side player, and her existence plays into a lot of possibilities moving forward. Hopefully, VIDA will give her as much prominence as the other two.

More of a trope is Johnny (Carlos Miranda, The Bling Ring), Lyn’s ex who is engaged to the mother of his soon-to-be-born child, but who of course falls right back into sexual relations with Lyn. This is a very overdone type, and not one I’ve ever encountered in real life. He is there to add tension, but unless they develop him beyond the superficial, and they may, there’s not much point in having him around beyond how he informs on Lyn’s character.

The wild card is Johnny’s sister, Mari (Chelsea Rendon, Bright), who is a rebel with some causes, seemingly. She is fighting back against the gentrification of the neighborhood, though she is doing so in such an extreme way that it’s clear she won’t succeed. Not that one would expect any single person to be able to stop a trend like this, but she is going about it in probably the least productive way. After episode one, it’s not clear exactly how she will figure into the sisters’ tale, though given their desire to sell the bar and apartment building their mother owned, there will likely be a bit of overlap.

I liked VIDA, but I didn’t love it. The characters and world are very specific, in a good way, with a well-defined universe to exist in. There is representation in the cast and story that don’t often show up on television, and the social issues raised are timely and important. There pacing is fine, and the direction is interesting. It feels like an indie drama film about a family, stretched out a bit.

Yet, it lacked a strong hook. I’m curious about what will happen next, but there’s not a character that stands out or a part that really draws focus to latch onto. The evenness of the quality is generally a good thing as a show goes on, but the pilot needs something special to really make a broader audience take notice. I can’t say I really saw that in the first episode of VIDA. Though, at only six episodes in the first season, and the apparent quality of the production, it’s probably worth giving it a chance.

VIDA airs Sundays on Starz.

THE HANDMAID'S TALE Continues

Article first published as TV Review: THE HANDMAID'S TALE Season 2 on Seat42F.

Hulu’s THE HANDMAID’S TALE is back for a second season this week. The streaming service released two episodes last Wednesday, with additional installments spooling out weekly over the coming months. The tale of women in a strongly religious, male-dominated society continues, and we immediately get to see different corners of the world than previously shown. Viewers finally witness what life is like at the dreaded colonies first-hand, as well as get a glimpse at an underground railroad-type situation for ladies fleeing their forced fate. Somehow, none of the shock value has worn off, as things get darker still.

June Osborne, a.k.a. Offred (Elisabeth Moss), is left in a precarious position last season, having led a peaceful protest against Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd) to save Janine’s (Madeline Brewer) life. Aunt Lydia promised consequences, and they unfold right at the start of episode one. While the actual threat is obviously just that, merely a threat, as fertile women are too precious a resource in this reality to waste, it’s easy to see how the victims of it would be terrified, believing it real. They’ve been treated so poorly and terrorized so much, they can be forgiven for not thinking the situation through logically.

June herself, however, is spared as soon as her pregnancy becomes known. This gets into a psychological game, as June is immune from some, but not all punishment, and she is still vulnerable to being shamed in front of the others. Or is she? We know June has a strong fortitude, and her battle of wills with Aunt Lydia, much of it non-verbal, is gripping in this initial hour. June has additional scenes throughout both installments where Moss shines with physical performance and facial expression.

Episode two divides its time between some former newspaper offices, where horrible acts were carried out, and one of the colonies, where Emily (Alexis Bledel) has been sent for hard labor. I’m not sure what I pictured the colonies as being like, but the bleak, desolate, radiation-filled landscape is not exactly it. This feels even sadder, more isolated, than I imagined, and life is extremely hard there. A subplot involving a new arrival at the colony (Marisa Tomei, The Big Short) is moving and shocking, but also feels a little bit satisfying, which is needed every now and then in the series.

One thing that is different about THE HANDMAID’S TALE from other shows is that it saves all its credits for the end, so you’ll never know which characters will be showing up. This works very well in this particular program, as it allows a larger element of surprise. The end credits also only list the stars of that particular hour, so Alexis Bledel’s name isn’t in the premiere, leaving you to wonder how much she’ll be involved in the season. Similarly, Yvonne Strahovski and Joseph Fiennes aren’t in the second hour, so their names aren’t present. Will they be back? Who knows? There is a freedom for the story to go anywhere without being beholden to past places and characters when even the central cast isn’t listed in this manner.

THE HANDMAID’S TALE continues its customary flashbacks in both parts. Normally, this is a conceit in a television show I would grow tired of pretty quickly. And there are times in these initial offerings where it’s easy to become impatient, wanting to get back to the main timeline. However, Emily’s bit in episode two is particularly moving, and both episodes help fill in exactly how this oppressive regime was able to take power, thankfully shown indirectly. It’s helpful for understanding the situation, and also as a warning not to allow current political forces to move in the same direction. It’s uncomfortably easy to imagine how it might.

THE HANDMAID’S TALE remains powerful, timely, and intensely compelling. Watch it exclusively on Hulu.