fitzmary
Something for everyone. True to BBC flavor. Each episode becomes more layered with complex struggles. Heart clutching, each episode builds to nearly breath taking crescendo. One main character is driven by truth. Another is controlled by secrets and lies. The deft unfolding of how external factors assault their perception of their personal realities and interpersonal relationships is absorbing. Can't wait for Season 2.
notoriouslynice-26657
I so wanted to like this. The premise sounded promising. Sophie Okonedo and Adrian Lester are two of my favorite actors. The story started slowly but picked up speed toward the end. Then...there should be a special place in hell for writers who string you along for 6 hours and then give you nothing.
Bene Cumb
Last decade or so, the UK has produced so many versatile and dramatic (mini-)series that one must unavoidably compare and choose between them - as time is limited and eyes must relax from time to time. Sometimes you tend to forget what you have seen already - due to several recurrent actors, often in similar roles of coppers or crooks - the trend that is usually characteristic to smaller nations, in Scandinavia in particular.Undercover sets in rather intensely, but then it scatters and wears away somehow, and some standpoints and attitudes are pointed out too often and too strongly, but then the thrill resumes and last two episodes form a real cat-and-mouse play, without becoming too "explosive". True, using flashbacks with a little effort to change the performers' outfit and looks for the period of 20 years brings along unnecessary confusions and disruptions, but all the major performances, however, are good at least, and Maya Cobbina QC by Sophie Okonedo deserves more praise and attention she has achieved so far.The ending scenes are a bit odd, and the very ending made me the inspiration that another season would be launched, although there is no hint of it so far. Anyway, I would presumably find time for follow-up, but it is okay to cap off here as well. Let the big echelons be more visible in other series... :)
Tweekums
This seven part BBC drama opens in Louisiana where British civil rights lawyer Maya Cobbina is trying to get a stay of execution for her client Rudy Jones. She is unsuccessful and leaves as he is taken to the execution chamber. As she drives away she is stopped and told that Rudy is still alive following a botched attempt to kill him. This doesn't necessarily mean that he is safe and the state is determined to try again at a later date. She returns to her family in London
not knowing that her husband. Nick Johnson, of twenty years isn't the man she thought he was. Through a series of flashbacks we learn that that he was an undercover police officer who had been tasked with investigating her when she was part of a civil rights group led by Michael Antwi; a man who died in police custody shortly afterwards. Maya is determined to get justice for Michael but others are determined that what happened that day will remain a secret. Back in the present she is offered the position of the next Director of Public Prosecution; a bit of a surprise given that she always worked for the defence but she uses it as an opportunity to reopen the Antwi case. Nick thinks his past in the police is long over but his handlers contact him again and demand that he stops his wife from doing anything that could expose the truth of what happened that day. As the series progresses Nick must decide where his loyalties lie as it becomes apparent that the people he is working for are very dangerous.This was a solid series even if it did wear its heart on its sleeve a little too much; we were left in no doubt who we were meant to sympathise with. At times this could be a problem; the character of Maya was so self-righteous that it was hard to sympathise with her at times even though we know she is in the right! This was even true of her final plea for Rudy's life where she argues against the cruelty of execution by lethal injection; this seemed a bit too much like the writers telling us how they feel on the matter and grated even though I broadly agreed with the argument. Thankfully though these moments didn't spoil the story; this is largely down to the cast, especially Sophie Okonedo and Adrian Lester. These two made excellent leads do a fine job. There are plenty of tense moments throughout the series from the gruelling opening to the exciting finale. We do need to stretch our suspension of disbelief a fair bit at time; would such an outspoken and controversial lawyer as Maya really be made DPP and even though there have been real cases of undercover officers getting involved with people they were investigating it would take something to keep it a secret for twenty years of marriage. Overall though, despite its flaws, I found this to be a highly worthwhile series.