HUNTERS and the Hunted

Article first published as TV Review: HUNTERS on Seat42F.

Amazon recently released HUNTERS, a ten-episode drama about a group of Jewish people in the late 1970s hunting down Nazis hiding in America to take revenge for their wartime atrocities. From the mind of David Weil, this hyper-reality series picks a handful of things from history, and amps them up a la Inglourious Basterds, with plenty of shocking deaths in this cat-and-mouse spy game. It’s like The Americans, but way more fun (which is not a knock against that excellent series) because it’s a lot less concerned with accuracy.

The cast is very capably led by Logan Lerman (The Perks of Being a Wallflower) as Jonah Heidelbaum. Jonah lives with his grandmother, a survivor of the concentration camps, and his only remaining relative. But when she is mysteriously murdered in her home and Jonah doesn’t stop it, his mission to make up for his inaction leads him to a larger conspiracy. Jonah meets Meyer Offerman (Al Pacino, The Irishman, The Godfather) and his band of Nazi hunters. Despite Meyer’s best efforts, Jonah joins them in their quest, taking his grandmother’s place.

The supporting cast is wonderfully assembled. Jerrika Hinton (Grey’s Anatomy) is Millie Morris, an earnest federal agent investigating suspicious murders. Dylan Baker (The Good Wife) is so, so, so creepy as Biff Simpson, a former Nazi. Greg Austin (Mr Selfridge) is chilling in his cleanup. Lena Olin (Alias) is the cartoonishly evil German who wants to establish a Fourth Reich. Saul Rubinek (Warehouse 13), Carol Kane (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt), Josh Radnor (How I Met Your Mother), Tiffany Boone (The Following), Louis Ozawa (Bosch), and Kate Mulvany (Fighting Season) make up the members of Meyer’s team.

From the first scene, HUNTERS is gripping. A friendly cookout among co-workers goes wrong, and the result is something that very nearly crosses a line. From there, things only ramp up, as in the pilot alone, there are something like ten murders (most in a single scene). Each tends to be done with flair and dramatics, keeping one’s attention, even as it’s hard to know exactly when the next one is coming up. The pacing is quick, and the story flows smoothly.

There is a line one wouldn’t want to cross, and HUNTERS comes right up to it. The line I refer to is showing brutality towards children, which the show manages without being graphic the way it is in its treatment of adults. That restraint is appreciated, even if it’s clearly just for viewer sensibilities; the world isn’t any less realistic in the outcomes towards the youths.

Still, there’s a lot of violence, and without stating that it’s glorification, it is stylized entertainment. Much as the way the rest of the show is. As I said in the opening, HUNTERS operates on a hyper-reality, and from Florida wallpaper choices, to sitting positions in an alley, to a secret lair, much care has been taken to build something that feels just not-grounded enough to fully enjoy, without worrying about what might have really happened. There’s an air of fairy tale to it that keeps you from being bummed out by all the death, even as the frequent references to the Holocaust lend a sad undertone. The overall satisfaction is joyous, with those who have been wronged balancing the scales in their own ways, extralegal or not.

I love what I’ve seen of HUNTERS. It’s got some absolutely terrific performance moments in a pleasing package. I wouldn’t call it light entertainment; it threads a careful balance between fun and depth. Yes, it is prestige programming, and uses its period concept delightfully. But it also says something, and the specific point of view behind it makes it well worth the watch.

You can stream the entire first season now on Amazon Prime.

Not Much CLASS

Article first published as TV Review: CLASS on Seat42F.

BBC’s Doctor Who has had a couple of spin-offs, but none are currently running. Given how infrequent new installments of the parent show are, it’s almost always welcome when there’s some continuation or extension set in that world to fill in the gaps. The newest series, though, at least in America, doesn’t come in the off-season, but instead will air in parallel with new Doctor Who, beginning this weekend.

Called CLASS, the show tells the story of four students and a teacher at the infamous Coal Hill Academy. Renovated and fancied up since the last time we saw it, the school having been periodically featured in the series since the beginning, most recently as Clara’s workplace, this allows both a familiar and fresh setting for the new show.

The ensemble is as diverse as it can be in the British school-limited setting, with multiple races and sexual preferences represented in the five-member troupe. There’s: Ram (Fady Elsayed, My Brother the Devil), who dreams of being a football (soccer to us Americans) star; April (Sophie Hopkins, Brackenmore), the mild-mannered nerd who helps care for her mother; Tanya (Vivian Oparah), a Nigerian prodigy; and Charlie (Greg Austin, Mr. Selfridge), an alien price, the last of his race, who has a crush on a Polish boy, Matteusz (Jordan Renzo). They are watched over by Miss Quill (Katherine Kelly, Coronation Street, Mr. Selfridge), also alien, also last of her race, enslaved to protect Charlie.

So yes, the character descriptions give you a bit of the ongoing plot right away. With two extraterrestrials hiding out and trying to keep their races from going extinct, any number of baddies will come to the school looking for them. Then again, that institution has always attracted more than its fair share of trouble, with a body count well above average. So multiple elements converge on a place that is sure to see exciting things happen on a regular basis.

I do admit, I found CLASS a little hard to access at first. The core group seems so different from one another, and it feels weird to see them all drawn together artificially early, not by the monster, but prior to that. It was especially bizarre when they all sat next to one another in class. I think most shows would have circumstance bond them, or focus on an already solidified friend group, but CLASS tries something different, and I’m not sure it quite works. Or maybe I’m applying an American cultural filter to a British series; I’m just not sure.

The first episode itself is interesting, setting things up nicely, while still having an urgent plot driving it as well. There are some fun references, such as when the school is said to be essentially sitting on a Hellmouth. The problem with that is, Buffy the Vampire Slayer is one of the best shows of all time, and inviting comparison is risky. The saving grace is that Buffy didn’t have a strong first season, so it also asks viewers to give CLASS a chance if it doesn’t immediately hook them.

The Doctor (Peter Capaldi) makes his inevitable cameo, as we know he must, but I found it a disappointing one. Not in of itself, as I loved seeing him, as it fits into the whole. CLASS is trying to set itself and its heroes up, and having The Doctor burst in at a key moment feels like cheating, robbing the protagonists of their chance to really stand up for themselves. We do get some other opportunities to see the cast in action, and The Doctor does provide some welcome wisdom. But it still didn’t feel quite right.

I like CLASS. It has a talented ensemble, and I cannot get enough of Kelly as Quill. But it doesn’t have the charm of Doctor Who (except when The Doctor is present), and it struggles to find its own identity in episode one. It isn’t as instantly gripping as Torchwood, a prior spin-off. With seven more episodes in this run, we’ll see if it develops into something worthwhile, or sputters out.