Payback

BritBox trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0jviarTia8 This show is a winner. Which is a relief after a slew of so-so material. That's the problem with TV, even despite the reviews, you're never quite sure whether you're getting something traditional, maybe just a small step step better than network fare, or something deep which is equivalent to a movie. You might have read that the new "Mario" movie is doing boffo at the b.o. Seems like parents want to take the kiddies out. The only people who aren't being serviced at the theatre are those with a brain, those who remember when movies moved the culture. Unfortunately, too many of these people, mostly boomers, pooh-pooh what's on television, and that's a grave mistake. Should I mention the losers we watched? Well, not exactly losers, but stuff that isn't good enough for me to recommend. There was "That Night," a Spanish show on Netflix, which got some great reviews. Acting, plotting, everything was really good except for the tone, which alternated between being too light to serious, frivolous to intense. I enjoyed it, but if I'd never seen it, that would be okay. And then there was "Outrageous" on BritBox, whose main flaw was that it stopped in the middle of the story and as of now, a second season has not been commissioned. It's a true story about this aristocratic family in the U.K. prior to World War II whose members take opposite political sides, one is a communist eager to fight in Spain, another is involved with the fascist Oswald Mosley. Once again, the tone is too often light, yet there are good things about relationships and a peek into thirties Germany but the fact that the viewer is left hanging was unsatisfying. Then I wanted to watch "Gone" on BritBox, but it turned out it wasn't on BritBox yet. Reviews were stellar, but JustWatch.com told me I was out of luck. And that's when we decided to watch "Payback." Now I'd never heard of it. even though it was first released in the U.K. two and a half years ago. I.e. the buzz didn't translate across the pond. And the reviews were not as good as those of "Gone," but we were in a U.K. kind of mood, so we dove in, and were hooked from the first instant. That's what I want from a television series, to be taken away. Not so much to suspend disbelief, as a matter of fact the grittier and more true to life a show is, the more I like it. But if a show is good enough not only am I hooked, the rest of the world falls away. And this is hard to achieve, even in the theatre people are on their smartphones. I want to be invested. I want to know the people, the nuances, which is why I prefer series to movies. So, all you've got to know here is "Payback" stars Peter Mullan, who you'll recognize instantly, but you may not be sure where from... But research will tell you he played the evil Jacob Snell in "Ozark." You remember, he and his wife used their land to grow poppies... In "Ozark," a phenomenal show if you haven't seen it, Snell is not only a criminal, he's a bad guy, a local who threatens Jason Bateman's Marty Byrde. Byrde can never quite relax around Snell. And in "Payback," the character Mullan plays is just one step more intense. Not over the top in an American series way, but you constantly see the iron fist inside the velvet glove. Most of the time Mullan's Cal Norris is calm, anything but a hothead, running legitimate businesses, even being friendly, but he's got to get his way, you cannot cross him, and if you do... I mean I'm watching the show and I feel threatened! On the other side of the equation is Morven Christie, who was in one of my favorite streaming series ever, "The A-Word," set in the Lake District north of Manchester. Morven's Alison Hughes is the mother of autistic child Joe, who is soothed by rock music on his headphones and... "The A-Word" is not a sappy, heartstring-puller. It's real, which means you see moments of warmth and exasperation. So in "Payback," Morven Christie's Lexie Noble is forced to work for Mullan's Cal Norris and there's a death and the police are involved, however... This is not the usual police show, focusing on the officers figuring out what went down and who is guilty. Rather it's all about Lexie being stuck in the middle between the law and the criminal and trying to navigate the situation not to her advantage, but so that she and her children will survive. "Payback" is not predictable. Once you think you know where it's going, it twists, ever so slightly, not unbelievably, and you're kept on your toes. As for the rest of the cast, you will recognize Prasanna Puwanarajah as the pharmacist in "Line of Duty," which I hope you've seen, this show about "bent coppers." However, Puwanarajah is not the bumbling guy he was in that series. In "Payback" he plays a financial investigator for the police. As for the police...you will recognize Andi Osho as DI Royce. She too was in "Line of Duty," but you'll know her from a slew of other shows too. And Osho always projects competence, but is she the good person here, does she even know what is going on? And Derek Riddell plays DCI Adam Guthrie. And the question is raised in the series, is he ultimately trustworthy? Are cops in general trustworthy or do you have to look out for yourself? I don't want to tell you any more, because it's the twists and turns that keep you invested. But mostly Peter Mullan... Can the law ever compete with criminals? But it's his intensity that shakes you, I was scared of him and he was on my TV screen! Two thumbs up, I wholeheartedly recommend "Payback." -- Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/ -- Listen to the podcast: -iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj -Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp -- http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz -- If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter, http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1 If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25 To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25