What Is COBRA?

 Article first published as TV Review: COBRA on Seat42F.

This week, PBS premiered the British drama COBRA. It’s basically a disaster film, spread out into a six-hour miniseries. In it, the government of the United Kingdom has to deal with a major crisis that leaves much of the country without electricity. This, of course, sparks many smaller crises, fire after fire that must be put out. Without having seen the whole thing yet, I can’t say for sure everything will work out, But yeah, the heroes portrayed will probably save the day for the vast majority of their citizens.

The term COBRA refers to Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms, and I have no idea where the A comes from, other than possibly to make it easier to say out loud. The acronym is far from the only detail that may confuse American audiences that are not familiar with the differing structures, positions, and power sharing present in the ruling body of our neighbors across the pond. While there are some interesting tidbits that provide a small bit of education, COBRA doesn’t take a lot of time to explain itself, assuming its audience already knows these things. So I recommend not spending too much time trying to figure it out and just focus on the characters in the story.

Two protagonists seem to be most central to COBRA. Anna Marshall (Victoria Hamilton) is the more compelling of the two. As Chief of Staff to Downing Street, she is a capable advisor who can put aside her personal issues and focus on the tasks at hand. While she is not liked by everyone, especially Archie Glover-Morgan (David Haig, Penny Dreadful), the Home Secretary, the disagreements with her seem based on political beliefs, rather than anything wrong with her. I look to her to set the path forward as the government deals with the disaster.

Alternately, Prime Minister Robert Sutherland (Robert Carlyle) seems ineffectual and weak. He is new to the job, but that doesn’t necessarily excuse his behavior. It is acceptable for a country’s leader to doubt themselves and to seek advice from the rest of the governing body; laudable, even. However, when those doubts are shown so openly, it causes others to doubt if he is up to the task at hand, or not, and it seriously undermines the credibility he has. He does not seem poised to come out of this on top and keep his position.

I find the switch in both actors from previously known roles quite intriguing. Carlyle was very powerful as Rumpelstiltskin / Mr. Gold in ABC’s Once Upon a Time, while Hamilton played a less vocal Queen Mother in The Crown on Netflix. That shows that they are making conscious acting choices, even at the times when their characters’ range of expression comes across as limited.

Unfortunately, those performances, interesting as they may be in the context of a career, don’t necessarily prove to be magnetic here. Nor does the way everything unfolds in the first hour of COBRA. There’s a plane crash teased at the very beginning, but while that is the biggest action sequence so far, it’s hard to care all that much about it. Instead, the personal drama is more on the forefront, and isn’t as compelling as in many other drama series.

I personally find things to like about COBRA that will probably keep me watching. Most notably, the performances of two actors I enjoy and learning about the British government, as you may have surmised from my discussion of both above. However, as a disaster series, I do find it slow moving and far less enticing than I would expect from the genre. That may be fine for PBS, but is unlikely to attract a larger audience beyond the network’s typical viewership.

COBRA is currently airing Sundays on PBS in the United States.

Wear THE CROWN Again

Article first published as TV Review: THE CROWN Season 2 on Seat42F.

Netflix’s THE CROWN has returned for a second season. The series follows the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, and the latest batch of episodes focuses on the mid-1950s into the 1960s. This will be the last season with the original cast, as the producers have said they will be switching performers every two seasons (which cover roughly twenty years of time). In general, season two seems to have mostly maintained the good quality of season one.

Picking up near where last year left off, things have gotten more complicated for Elizabeth (Claire Foy) in both the personal and professional realms. Concerning the latter, she no longer has Winston Churchil (John Lithgow) to rely on. Difficult as he could be, the new prime minister, Anthony Eden (Jeremy Northam), doesn’t have the same wisdom or competence. This almost immediately puts Elizabeth in a complicated place as tensions erupt in Egypt.

At the same time, Elizabeth fears her husband, Philip (Matt Smith), may be cheating on her. This is not helped at all by his louse of an assistant, Mike (Daniel Ings). Their relationship has been rocky ever since she was made queen, but this concern is new. In the first hour of season two alone, we see Elizabeth and Philip at their highest and their lowest points, as they continue to try to figure out how her official role fits into their marriage.

While I like seeing the contrast, I am going to take a moment to complain about the opening scene of season two, which takes place five months after the rest of the hour. It has become a far-too-common crutch for television shows to do a flash forward to try to hook the viewers before jumping back to the more ‘mundane’ parts of the story. It’s especially bad here because I feel the narrative would be far more powerful if we saw Elizabeth start on a high note and watched things fall apart, rather than knowing with certainty (for those not super familiar with her history) where it’s going before it takes a turn.

But that is my only real gripe about what I’ve seen so far of season two. Yes, there’s a bit of a hole without Lithgow’s constant presence. However, at this point viewers should be suitably invested in Elizabeth, Philip, and Princess Margaret (Vanessa Kirby) enough that the story remains compelling. With terrific performances and wonderful sets, props, and costumes, it’s still a very impressive production.

I am most intrigued by what role Dickie, also known as Lord Mountbatten (Greg Wise), may play in this season. The first year found him often an antagonist, though not a particularly diabolical one, while the premiere of season two already casts him in a more positive light. Complex characters like Dickie, and ones who aren’t as famous as Elizabeth and Churchill, provide a good hook to the drama.

There is a fair amount of speculation as to how accurate THE CROWN is. While the major sweeps of plot can be fact-checked, this royal family is notoriously private, and it’s hard to know for sure if, for example, Philip really did cheat on Elizabeth. I feel THE CROWN handles this delicately, though, hinting when it isn’t sure, and leaving enough open to interpretation to avoid going too far off the rails, while still preserving the drama.

I very much enjoyed THE CROWN’s first season. While I’m not far into year two yet, I can tell I am going to enjoy this run, too. It’s a feat to bring history to life so vividly and interestingly, especially when the story revolves around characters who might not scream drama themselves. The raw, layered portrait painted manages to make for a fascinating series.

THE CROWN season two is available now on Netflix.

Queen VICTORIA

Article first published as VICTORIA Review on Seat42F.

PBS’ Masterpiece presents a new drama this week called VICTORIA. Centered around the long-reining British queen of that name, the show originally aired in the UK, and is now coming to the states, the first two hours premiering this Sunday. The initial offering deals with Victoria taking the throne, befriending the prime minister, and her struggles between what she wants personally and what the politics of the country demand.

Although not a fan of Jenna Coleman’s Clara in the series Doctor Who, I do like her better as Victoria. She does a fine job portraying the young, short queen (only eighteen when she took the throne, and under five feet tall) as she comes into her own.

Victoria has a very sheltered childhood, controlled as she is by her mother (Catherine Flemming, Simones Labryinth) and her mother’s close pal, Sir John Conroy (Paul Rhys, Da Vinci’s Demons). When she gets that first taste of being in charge, it goes to her a head a little bit. Coleman keeps her sympathetic through those bits, helping us understand why Victoria makes the decisions she does, and rationalizing the more selfish ones.

I also like Rufus Sewell (The Man in the High Castle) as Lord Melbourne. He and Victoria had a special relationship, and while the way it is shown in VICTORIA isn’t wholly accurate, I like this chemistry, too. It avoids being romantic, which is certainly a good thing, but I do get that Melbourne really cares for her, and that’s important as Victoria transitions into power.

Other than that, though, this series, while interesting, isn’t overly compelling. Some of what is portrayed is relatively factual, historically speaking, but other parts are dramatized to try to add more excitement. This seems unnecessary, and feels forced, especially in making Melbourne so attractive. What happens with Victoria’s birthday cake is a good example of something that didn’t need added in, as is the scheming of relations behind her back. The show could have focused more on the real things, such as the possible scandal with Sir John, which is gotten through pretty quickly, rather than adding excess drama.

I would point to The Crown on Netflix as an example of how to do things better. It doesn’t help VICTORIA that its U.S. release comes just after The Crown has gained steam and awards. (It hadn’t yet premiered when VICTORIA aired across the pond.) The Crown keeps things more grounded, less episodic, and that makes it stronger overall. VICTORIA should take note of that as it develops season two, changing course to feel more like a docudrama and less like a soap. I doubt it will, but that would be the smart move.

The other comparison VICTORIA is sure to rate is to Downton Abbey, mainly because there are plenty of scenes for the servants, including the queen’s German baroness, Lehzen (Daniela Holtz, Phoenix), Mrs. Jenkins (Eve Myles, Torchwood), and the young Skerrett (Nell Hudson, Outlander). I feel like this is a bit of an odd choice because the household of a queen would have a LOT more servants than Downton Abbey, and yet it doesn’t feel like it does because VICTORIA focuses on such a small group. Which again, takes me a bit out of the story, and feels like an odd choice for a show about the queen herself.

Neither comparison, to Downton Abbey or to The Crown, leave VICTORIA the better for it. Taken on its own, I found it entertaining and beautifully produced. By comparison to its peers, it feels trite and superficial, as well as more soapy than it should be. For that reason, I can’t see continuing to watch it, even though it has been renewed for a second series overseas.

VICTORIA premieres this Sunday, January 15^th, at 9/8c.