Tenant is DES

 Article first published as TV Review: DES on Seat42F.

Sundance Now is streaming a three-part drama beginning this week entitled DES. Based on the true story of a Scottish serial killer arrested in 1983, the story starts at the arrest. Thus, rather than having a mystery that needs to be solved by skillful detectives, it’s a character study of a killer who has been caught, and indeed, seems to want to have been caught and surprised it has taken so long. Although he has been practicing his murderous craft for some time.

David Tennant (Doctor Who, Good Omens) stars as Dennis Nilsen, who insists people call him DES. Tennant has been lauded for many previous roles, including a good many dark villains. None of the praise for him has been overblown; he’s a very talented performer. Yet, in DES, he seems to have found something new to do, which is hard to imagine if you haven’t seen it. Des is such a specific and unique character, at least the way Tennant plays him, that he comes across as completely harmless and even polite, including when he’s confessing to the homicides. The shock on other characters’ faces as he unspools what he remembers will be matched only by the audience watching. He’s an enigma that is hard to figure out, which is part of the draw.

There are two other central characters, besides Des himself, in the show. DCI Peter Jay (Daniel Mays, White Lines, Good Omens) is the one who seems to be in charge of Des’ case, even while the higher ups get involved. A little bit of Peter’s personal life is revealed in the first hour before things really get going, though I’m not sure how that’s really relevant, given that Peter is then just shown doing his job. The other, Brian Masters (Jason Watkins, The Crown, Being Human), is an author, and a bit more of his personality is shown. This feels more necessary, as Brian will eventually write a book about Des on which DES is based, and it is nice to know what his motivations and mindset may be when he agrees to the project to inform on the show itself.

With this trio, the acting in DES is superb. Every scene drips with delicious tension, and it’s easy to be drawn into the story. Which is quite a feat when you consider not much really happens. The action part of the plot occurs off screen, prior to the miniseries, so this is all character-based. Thankfully, it’s as riveting as you could hope for, in a terrifically understated way, and the fact that the story is actually true almost feels more like icing on the cake than the point of it.

There are a hell of a lot of crime shows these days, and this is far from the only true one. Yet, I feel like DES is more worth it than most, and a great piece of programming. It is actually the ninth in a series of such programs produced by ITV, with a tenth one on the way. I haven’t watched the others, but after viewing this, I am anxious to check them out.

The three-hour running time doesn’t hurt, either. I’ve only watched the first, and it seems to me right now that three hours feels short. Yet, when these things are stretched to eight or ten (or more) hours, they often drag a bit in the middle, so by keeping it so limited, DES is sure not to overstay its welcome. It’s essentially film-length.

Sundance Now is offered as a stand-alone service where you can view DES and other programming on the network. Or you can subscribe via Prime Channels on Amazon. So there are a couple different ways to view it, though I don’t see DES available for stand-alone purchase in the United States on either streaming or discs at the moment, so you’ve got to go through Sundance Now.

DES airs Thursdays for the next couple of weeks on Sundance Now.

LIAR, Liar

Article first published as TV Review: LIAR on Seat42F.

Sundance has a new drama premiering tonight called LIAR. It’s actually a co-British program that is being aired here on Sundance at the same time it’s still running across the pond, albeit viewers in the UK are a few weeks ahead of us in the story. In LIAR, schoolteacher Laura Nielson accuses surgeon Andrew Earlham of rape after a first date. The audience is left to wonder which one of them is telling the truth as Andrew insists the intercourse was consensual, and Laura apparently finds forged evidence. So it’s a psychological thriller mystery.

The lead performers, Joanne Froggatt (Downton Abbey) as Laura and Ioan Gruffudd (Forever) as Andrew, are excellent. We’ve seen Froggatt play a rape victim before and Gruffudd do creepy and mysterious, so they do feel very familiar in the parts. But there’s also new ground here, with the slow pacing and the surprise reveals, each sticking very firmly to their own version of events. For much of the first hour, I wavered back and forth over who was telling the truth.

I do think society influences our impressions and how each person would approach this. My instinct is to trust the woman making the accusation, and others will, too, although some will fall on the other side, especially when Laura’s mental stability is called into question. Part of the value of LIAR is making us think about our preconceived notions and evaluate them, as well as call attention to some of the complex issues and difficulty building a case in situations like this. For that, it is invaluable.

In terms of storytelling, I’m not sure about this show yet. By the end of hour one, I felt like I had a plenty good idea of what happened, and was no longer on the fence. Reading a review of hour three, which aired this week in Britain, it seems viewers that far along are all falling on one side. Though, I expect there are still some twists to come that may shift things back the other way, or further explain what’s been revealed. This is the kind of thing you’d really have to watch all six parts of before deciding if the tale was well done or not, the conclusion mattering as much as the journey.

There are some very positive signs, besides the excellent acting. For one, the series is by Harry and Jack Williams, the brains behind The Missing, another excellent, twisty thriller. For another, the production is high quality, looking fantastic and grounded, paced pretty good, no obvious plot holes, fine scoring, terrific directing, all pluses. Some of the characters have major possibility, like Andrew’s son, who is Laura’s student, and Laura’s ex-boyfriend who is not what he initially seems. The supporting cast, including Zoe Tapper (Mr. Selfridge), Warren Brown (Luther), Shelley Conn (Terra Nova), Richie Campbell (Eve), Jamie Flatters (So Awkward), and Danny Webb (Humans), seem solid, too.

On the negative side is how every character seems to have their secrets, not just the leads. This can be all right, and may still be here. But other shows have fallen into the trap of making every single other person the leads cross paths with too shady or untrustworthy. I hope LIAR doesn’t fall into that trap. I don’t think it will, despite a couple things that seem a bit forced in the premiere, but that’s something to be careful with.

Having only seen a single installment, I am willing to tentatively recommend it. My feeling is that it will be worth your time, although, as I’ve cautioned, I can’t guarantee it at this stage. However, if you like a good British mystery-thriller, this will probably be right up your alley, and the pilot is already better than most others in the genre I’ve seen.

LIAR airs tonight at 10 ET on Sundance.

THE LAST PANTHERS Review

Article first published as THE LAST PANTHERS Review on Seat42F.

Sundance will be bringing us a British / French production this week entitled THE LAST PANTHERS. Set in several European countries, the six-episode series follows a jewel thief and those who would hunt him after the crime as he flees home to a dark underworld.

Goran Bogdan (Number 55) plays Milan Celik, the lead character, at least as far as I can tell. Milan is part of a trio that nab some diamonds in the exciting opening sequence, and it is Milan’s past and actions that provide most of the driving force of the plot. Will he get away with it? I don’t know, and I’m not even sure if I should root for him to do so or not.

Those chasing Milan aren’t the most likeable people, after all. Insurance adjuster Naomi Franckom (Samantha Morton, John Carter) seems OK, but her boss, Tom Kendle (John Hurt, Doctor Who, Merlin), is anything but kind. Police officer Khalil (Tahar Rahim, A Prophet) is in much the same position as Naomi, seeming much more competent and deserving than those above him. But then again, even without a direct supervisor, Milan comes across much more favorably than those he would or has worked for, too, so there’s a pattern.

The result is a chase through a criminal landscape, ripe with betrayals and executions and cheats and schemes. It’s a bit hard to follow if you aren’t paying attention, similar looking actors and frequent subtitles not helping much with that, but it’s also obvious to the beholder than THE LAST PANTHERS is a high quality production that deserves your attention.

The cast is quite compelling, with their smoldering glances and calculating eyes letting you know there is a lot going on. They also exist in the world with a realistic number of moving parts, which makes it hard for anyone to do anything without a dozen other people being affected by it. This means consequences could come from anywhere, and makes it hard for one character to rely on any other, but it also makes it authentic, and thus deeper than the average television series.

The setting is beautiful and gritty at once. Again, much care has gone into making it seem like THE LAST PANTHERS is in our own, actual world, and it succeeds at that. Car and foot chases find plenty of obstacles in the way, but when the action slows down, it’s even easier to appreciate what’s going on around the characters. The circles they move in may not always be the most pleasant to look at, but there’s a detailed quality that makes the program rise above its peers.

While the U.S. often gets mainly the best of British television (with some exceptions), THE LAST PANTHERS feels better than most imports. It has the quality of a well-respected international film, stretched to miniseries length in order to go both broader and more focused on what it is portraying. Whether it’s the way a tattoo plays with a certain group, or collateral damage among an innocent bystander, the show immediately feels fully fleshed out, and it is very easy to get sucked into.

The series also fits well with Sundance’s brand. Slow-burn character dramas, such as Rectify, are what the network does best, and it already has a history of bringing over productions from other countries, such as with Top of the Lake. I think the show itself is good enough to stand on its own, but in the company of other airings on Sundance, it likely has the best chance to find its target audience and succeed.

THE LAST PANTHERS airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on Sundance.

HAP AND LEONARD Review

Article first published as HAP AND LEONARD Review on Seat42F.

I’ve been missing FX’s Justified something fierce ever since it left the air, but Sundance has a new series that might just fill that void, for awhile anyway. Premiering last night, HAP AND LEONARD is the story of two men in Texas who get roped into a heist. Based on a story by Joe Lansdale (Cold in July), the titular characters inhabit a very specific world that is caring without being showy about it, and violent when it needs to be. It’s hella entertaining.

Leonard (Michael Kenneth Williams, The Wire) and Hap (James Purefoy, The Following) have been friends for a very long time. They work together in the rose fields, they exercise together through boxing, and they accept one another unconditionally as best friends, defending the best interests of the other when someone threatens to interfere with that. They are as close as two men can be.

But that’s not immediately obvious from the first scene. In the modern world, nerds and geeks and metrosexuals have become the new norm, and the macho type isn’t disappearing, exactly, but isn’t as taken for granted as it once was. Leonard and Hap are definitely macho, and their bromance doesn’t fit the current definition of the word, finding a way to display their feelings while not losing this identity.

As a happy nerd myself, I never aspired to be the type of man they are, but Raylan and Boyd on Justified, among others, taught me how cool that type of character could be. HAP AND LEONARD is and are cool in almost every sense of the word.

Yet, they are flawed, complex men, too. There’s a lot more going on with both than what is immediately apparent on the surface.

The story of HAP AND LEONARD begins when Trudy (Christina Hendricks, Mad Men), an ex of Hap’s that Leonard does not like, shows up and offers them a get-rich job. Since they are both out of work and could use the money, they accept, Leonard a heck of a lot more reluctantly than Hap. They’ll have six episodes to get the work done, and viewers will have to wait awhile to see if Trudy and her most recent guy, Howard (Bill Sage, Nurse Jackie), are trustworthy.

I can honestly say, I don’t care if they succeed. I think I could greatly enjoy the run with or without a pot of gold at the end. For me, it’s all about the chemistry between Purefoy and Williams, and that’s enough. I enjoy the dialogue and the interplay between them. I like seeing Leonard open up to Hap and be protective of him. I like seeing Hap return the favor with Leonard’s homophobic uncle (Henry G. Sanders, Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman).

The fact that Leonard is gay is pretty much an afterthought, not a driving plot point, reinforcing the themes mentioned above, and seems so where Hap is concerned, too. Williams has already proven he can buck the stereotype on The Wire, and he does it again here. It’s extremely important to have a variety of homosexual role models on television, and it’s nice HAP AND LEONARD chooses to give us someone as realistic and relatable as Leonard.

HAP AND LEONARD is a period piece that doesn’t feel like one. It’s set in the late 1980s, but aside from the guys not having cell phones, I couldn’t really tell. The setting is one in which you wouldn’t expect to see the latest gadgets or automobiles. It just feels like an authentic place that would resist changing with the times, and I appreciate that.

HAP AND LEONARD airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on Sundance.

Traveling THE RED ROAD

Article first published as THE RED ROAD Review on Seat42F.

Sundance’s second original drama, THE RED ROAD, premiered last night. It’s set in a New Jersey town near New York City, but the community is quite rural, with a significant Native American population sort of segregated from the whites in territory, though not in story. The first episode, “Arise My Love, Shake Off This Dream,” introduces us to a number of different characters in both of those communities, each with secrets and connections to a number of other different players. Basically, there is a lot going on.

THE RED ROAD does not stop and lay out what the story and characters are, exactly. We’re dropped into the middle of the tale, and it is very hard to sort things out at the start. Because the action jumps around between so many different people, viewers are left trying to puzzle out the chess pieces on a murky board. Which means it’s not very accessible.

The tone is dark, slow, and dramatic, much like a number of other high-level crime shows. Stylistically, THE RED ROAD fits into a group that includes The Killing, Top of the Lake, Rectify, True Detective, Low Winter Sun, and others. This very clearly shows us that Sundance’s brand will be along the lines of the best of HBO and AMC, very good quality indeed.

But this particular series doesn’t quite live up to that. I’m not sure if it’s just me, but I’m not finding the connections I have in those other shows. The actors do a fine enough job, with several really great showcase moments, so I don’t think it’s their fault. I blame the writing for feeling just a bit shallow and flat in an otherwise realized world. Also, the setting doesn’t seem that defined, with audiences left confused how this can be so close to New York and look so very different.

The stand-out actress is Julianne Nicholson (Masters of Sex) as Jean Jensen. Jean is the wife of cop Harold Jensen (Martin Henderson, Off the Map). They’re going through some strife in their marriage as Jean gets sober, not necessarily well handled, as she has mental problems to boot, and the lack of alcohol may be letting them out in a bigger way than before. So we get a number of crazy-Jean scenes that show us just how good Nicholson can be, which is very.

Henderson does a fine job balancing her out, playing the kind, loving husband. When Jean makes mistakes, Harold tries his best to cover them up and protect her. When their teenage daughter, Rachel (Allie Gonino, The Lying Game), runs off with a Native American boy, Junior (Kiowa Gordon, Twilight), Jean takes off with her rage and a gun, but Harold calms those in Jean’s wake and safely finds the girl. His other daughter, Kate (Annalise Basso, Bedtime Stories), feels comfortable coming to Harold because she trusts him. All of this says a lot about the man.

The third main cast member is Jason Momoa (Game of Thrones) as Phillip Kopus. Phillip has a history with Jean, perhaps romantic, definitely tangled up in her brother’s drowning. Now, he’s fresh out of jail, working for a crook who happens to be his father, Jack (Tom Sizemore, Saving Private Ryan), and not exactly patching things up with his mother, Marie (Tamara Tunie, Law & Order: SVU), and kind of being big brother to Junior, in a way. And before the end of “Arise My Love, Shake Off This Dream,” Phillip has Harold right where he wants them.

I hesitate to say there are any obvious good guys or bad guys in THE RED ROAD. Phillip isn’t exactly on the up and up, but there’s also something magnetic about him. Harold, by contrast, is good to his family, but not always on the right side of the law, so there may be consequences for him. Jean is in a terrible place, causing her to do horrible things, but she might be fine if she can get cleaned up and calmed down. So the show lives in a world of grey.

Too bad it’s not a world that sucks you in. The ingredients are present that this should really be a show to watch, but I just don’t quite feel it. I’ll keep tuning in to see if it changes because it’s still better than most broadcast offerings, but it doesn’t seem destined to the critical darling and award winner that its peers have managed to be.

THE RED ROAD airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on Sundance for the next six weeks.

Enter THE WRITERS' ROOM

Article first published as Enter THE WRITERS' ROOM on TheTVKing.

Sundance, a channel not available in all areas, unspooled an intriguing new series this summer entitled The Writers' Room. Even if you don't get that network, though, all six episodes of its freshman run, recently completed, are available on amazon.com to download or stream.

The Writers' Room is hosted by Oscar-winning writer Jim Rash (The Descendants), who also co-stars as the crazy Dean on NBC's Community. In each half-hour installment, Rash sits down with the creator, writers, and sometimes actors of a popular, well-written show. He not only talks to them about their work, but also makes them prove their mettle in fun exercises.

The first episode I watched was the fourth. The guests are New Girl creator Liz Meriwether, series star Jake Johnson, who plays Nick, and writer / producers Dave Finkel and Brett Baer. These four expound upon their process, and Rash challenges them to each pick a different oddity, then combine them into a script idea. It's a very entertaining premise, especially to those fascinated with writing as a medium and television as an industry.

After that, I watched the first episode, which was even better. Featuring Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan, series lead Bryan Cranston, and quite a few writers, they told stories from the set, contemplated mass suicide, and even went into how the show was pitched. Some of what they said is already familiar to fans of the show, but much is new material, just now revealed to the general public.

Rash is a very capable host. He knows a lot about the subject at hand himself, being a writer, but he also has that charm and natural humor that serve him well in Community. His job here is not to be as outrageous as the Dean, but to keep things moving and to toss in a few jokes. This, he does very well. This could easily be the writer's answer to Inside the Actor's Studio, with Rash an even more magnetic James Lipton.

Another cool feature of The Writers' Room is that pop-up facts appear on screen throughout each installment. These give more information than those on the show have time to get to in the brief installments. It's unknown whether they come from edited-out material or things that have just been researched, but they are relevant and interesting. At least until the series can be expanded to an hour-long project, they help with the value of the production.

Other episodes available include interviews with the staffs of Game of Thrones, Dexter, Parks and Recreation, and American Horror Story. So, in short, The Writers' Room only attracts the best of the best, with this half dozen being among the truly great shows currently airing.

As a writer myself, I love this show and hope for more episodes, perhaps covering shows such as Mad Men, Hannibal, The Newsroom, The Walking Dead, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. (Yes, the last one is canceled, but one can hope, can't one?) It does not appear to be renewed yet, but it deserves to be. The writers of a show are so often forgotten or overlooked, but they are the ones who come up with the stories fans love. It's time they got to speak out in their own voices.

Check out The Writers' Room on amazon.com now.