![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Wax remembered the name of the book author and the fact that The Stranger, also starring Richard Armitage, was also by him, so we were fully prepared for how wack this was going to be going in. (As much as one can prepare for this sort of thing.)
It was bad. But in that way that silly Thriller/Suspense(Mystery) novels are silly, except a little more than average probably. But this guy is probably silly on purpose. I mean, the galaxy brain levels of silly twists in these stories are not the kind of thing you write in all solemnity.
I would say that The Stranger, which had an extra level of WTF in the final twist, was another degree or two wacker than this one, but in fairly fine degrees. ( Spoilery specifics )
There were some good performances in spite of this show's bad dialogue, and Eddie Izzard was there being an absolute joy. Cush Jumbo is very good as the female lead, which is necessary because she has to bear a lot of POV and objectively unwise decisions that are nail-biting to watch in a thriller, if understandable in context. James Nesbitt also appears as a pathetic divorced One of the Good Cops, and has a couple of scenes with Richard Armitage that are a nice little dwarf reunion for them - one where Richard Armitage inexplicably (well, enragedly/stupidly?) rushes straight into his arms as soon as he sees him show up because he's just SO eager for a fight. The weakest point, aside from the dialogue and the plot I mean, is definitely that the character Armitage is playing is clearly supposed to be a great deal sadder and more gaunt, dirty, sleazy, and disreputable than Armitage could be without going on a very unhealthy diet for a while first. They also don't go so far as to artificially dirty his hair and clothes. They still use lines that must be from the book of other characters talking about how skeezy and grimy he looks, and like... at no point does he look like he couldn't be in a clothing catalog. (And also he's supposedly like, a sad sack washed-up loser, but there's totally an Eames chair in his apartment, which like... why doesn't he just sell it then?)
It was bad. But in that way that silly Thriller/Suspense(Mystery) novels are silly, except a little more than average probably. But this guy is probably silly on purpose. I mean, the galaxy brain levels of silly twists in these stories are not the kind of thing you write in all solemnity.
I would say that The Stranger, which had an extra level of WTF in the final twist, was another degree or two wacker than this one, but in fairly fine degrees. ( Spoilery specifics )
There were some good performances in spite of this show's bad dialogue, and Eddie Izzard was there being an absolute joy. Cush Jumbo is very good as the female lead, which is necessary because she has to bear a lot of POV and objectively unwise decisions that are nail-biting to watch in a thriller, if understandable in context. James Nesbitt also appears as a pathetic divorced One of the Good Cops, and has a couple of scenes with Richard Armitage that are a nice little dwarf reunion for them - one where Richard Armitage inexplicably (well, enragedly/stupidly?) rushes straight into his arms as soon as he sees him show up because he's just SO eager for a fight. The weakest point, aside from the dialogue and the plot I mean, is definitely that the character Armitage is playing is clearly supposed to be a great deal sadder and more gaunt, dirty, sleazy, and disreputable than Armitage could be without going on a very unhealthy diet for a while first. They also don't go so far as to artificially dirty his hair and clothes. They still use lines that must be from the book of other characters talking about how skeezy and grimy he looks, and like... at no point does he look like he couldn't be in a clothing catalog. (And also he's supposedly like, a sad sack washed-up loser, but there's totally an Eames chair in his apartment, which like... why doesn't he just sell it then?)
