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BORN TO KILL (2017)

4/21/2017

SEASON 1 EPISODE 1 TV REVIEW/RECAP

***
Thursday, 9pm, Channel 4

A chilly albeit predictable mishmash of on-screen sociopathy.

What is it about the shiversome term “Psychopath” that unreservedly suggests quality television? Beyond your ever-stacking convey belt of curio coppers stroking their chins over the latest cul de sac murders of ‘Law and Order’ procedurals, the central insight into the mindset of a deranged, delinquent antisocial – existing on the fringes of a troubling society though charming and peevishly polite – has timely provided twisted TV inspiration for shows of the ‘Dexter’ mould.

The latest of such a small screen breed is undoubtedly Channel 4’s ‘Born to Kill’ – a misty concoction of adolescent angst and violent fixations from co-writers Tracey Malone and Kate Ashfield – that will have you believe itself to be a skin-crawling work of auteurist originality! In fact, this is rather a revamped, occasionally uneven spin on teeth-chattering tropes planted long in the gardens of sociopathic antihero dramas.

With a story revolving around that of a handsomely trimmed, pertinaciously pale loner by the name of Sam (Jack Rowan) – who spends his spare hours receiting creepy ‘Taxi Driver’-esque fantasies facing an uncomfortable-looking mirror – one struggles to vanquish an irksome air of familiarity lurking within the sinister trappings.
When not idolizing patriotic soldiers and puzzling over the past of his absent father (blatant, insensitive hints towards Alcohol-related Child Abuse!), this newly-discovered sociopath revels in morbid fascination of deceased bodies – attempting to engage in the mundaneness of the teenage high-school lifestyle – including infatuating over barmy, Potheaded Pyromaniac Chrissy (Lara Peake).

It’s all perfectly paced, sinisterly shot and delivers sizzling chemistry from its teen duo, but - with a central character obsessed with seldom more than the fraying hairs of a cold corpse – how are we supposed to sympathise? Unquestionably a hurdle future instalments need to break if this is to parade with the spine-tingling works it is heavily indebted to.

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LINE OF DUTY SEASON 4 EPISODE 2 TV REVIEW/RECAP

4/9/2017

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***
Sunday, 9pm, BBC1

‘Line of Duty’ remained watchable as ever, but lacked a fresh punch.

Within less than a minute of ‘Line of Duty’ raising it’s drum-barrelling, cymbal-crashing credits , one couldn’t help, but feel – for the first major time in the serie’s 5 year run – a tad uninvolved. A strange feeling given – in the past – the show’s tantalising cliffhangers tensely tittering on the brink of exposition have left me digging my nails into the sofa leather with agonising ambiguity!

So why is it that – despite any initial backstory being over and done with in last week’s slightly pedestrian premiere – ‘Episode 2’ still failed to lure me into the tentacled tapestry of the now firmly established mystery of “who is the Balaclava Serial Killer?”

Perhaps it comes down to the fact that one wishes Writer Jed Mercurio would pace himself a little more when unravelling the mystery surrounding that of the unspecified city’s sexual hunter and DCI Roz Huntley’s potential involvement with the case. As clues and red herrings came hurling in at a 120fps-like pace, one found himself struggling to find breathing space amongst all the fiendishly complex revelations. After all, we’re only on Episode 2!

However undoubtedly a more pressing concern would be whether perhaps ‘Line of Duty’ is trying to be a little too smart for its own good. It’s all very well building up momentum, but there needs to be some kind of clarity to proceedings if a series is to sustain a month-long attention span as Mercurio here is very clearly intending to do.

Then there’s the most obvious query of have we not seen this before many times over? In a world where both British and American Network Television seems to continuously cluttered with clunky case-of the-week police procedurals in the vein of ‘CSI’, ‘Law and Order’ and ‘Silent Witness’, do we really need yet another unsettling tale of rape, revenge and killings?

It’s not that murder mystery can’t be exploited for a chillingly personal spin of it’s own – viewers only need to look to the moody Nordic Noirs of ‘The Killing’ (‘Forbrydelsen’) (2007-2012) and ‘The Bridge’ (‘Bron-Broen’) (2012-) for frosty representations of crime drama at it’s sinister best!

However the central powerhouse of ‘Line of Duty’ has always arguably lay in it’s striking originality in being a series where the supposedly “White Knight Coppers” have the capability to be every bit as monstrous as the cut-throat criminals they are pursuing.
Thus a season rotating around a malignant sexual predator preying on pretty female victim feels frankly rather out of place in the nit and grit of the show’s real-world, morally grey policing. It’s certainly true that – watching this so-so second outing – one occasionally found themselves wondering whether they were really viewing the right show! Doesn’t this all feel a bit ‘Dexter’ to you?

Ah well. There you go. After a chainsaw-cutting climax to last week’s season premiere, it was interesting that a large chunk of this episode’s events of sorts took place without the presence of Season 4’s star player – Thandie Newton’s DCI Roz Huntley – or arguably more presciently – Jason Watkins’s skin-inhabiting, Hannibal Lector-style forensics analysist Tim Ifield.

If there’s been anything bang on the money thus far when it comes to this season, Watkins’s casting couldn’t be more so - leaving us watching through the cracks of our fingers as he ripped the attention away from Newton’s reserved turn.
As a result of his disappearance, we viewers were left to eye-rollingly suffer the tedious toddler tantrums of blank-faced frat boy DS Steve Arnott (Martin Compston). Of all the cringe-worthy romantic subplots, histrionic attempts to show off his manhood and disregard for any sense of order around him, none of Steve’s unwatchably wooden tough guy acts have left me more eager to ball my own eyes out in agony than actor Compston’s global artwank of an accent.

Just what is going on with this supposed Cockney geezaaah of a copper? Is he meant to be Scottish (Compston’s real-life dialect)? Is that a tad of Irish I’m hearing in there, Stevo? Oh well, sounds pretty South African now!

All these whiffs of hideous impersonations of regional and international dialects were of course mostly miserably muffled beneath the slappably lip-biting plank of mahogany wood. Oh we do love it when you get angry, Stevie boy! Not for a good reasons though!
Despite Vicky McClure being as ever a sternly solid presence, I was uncharacteristically ecstatic when Hastings (Adrian Dunbar) made a brash decision to put Steve through for an Inspector’s promotion – over the far more capable Kate that is. Of course only as it would put an end Steve’s self-entitled brattiness! Although sadly all that relief would soon vanish with a flick of a pen when one realises that Hastings may have doomed his entire department to a man who seems a little too cross over his Cappuccino not being frothy enough!

As you probably know, I couldn’t really conjure up much enthusiasm either for the bro/sis tension between AC-12’s young-un’s as Steve and Kate seemed to play off each other as if they’d just got back from a soggy trek in Wales!

Really! What was Mercurio thinking when he felt it was a good idea to allow us audiences to suffer through at least 30 mins of not much policing yet a tonne of b***hing?! Not since the Terminator-style Waif’s vegetable-throwing pursuit of Arya Stark in last season’s ‘Game of Throne’s (2011-) have I gawped so much in disbelief at snort-inducing dialogue creaking into a usually superbly-written series!

By the time DCI Huntley emerged and yet another mutilated corpse stained the whitesheets, I really was a little lost for words and not in the way one should be! Huntley strutted up and down the crime scene demanding access to an investigation she had now been systematically removed from much to blandboy Steve face-tightening annoyance!

With the returning faces of two of the season’s least welcome recurring regulars, thank goodness good old Kate was fiercely on-hand to add a little bit of heart to otherwise lukewarm results. Not abysmal, ‘Line of Duty’ – not at all. But your finest hour? I think not!

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BORN TO KILL (2017)

SEASON 1 EPISODE 1 TV REVIEW/RECAP

***
Thursday, 9pm, Channel 4

LINE OF DUTY SEASON 4 EPISODE 2 TV REVIEW/RECAP

***
Sunday, 9pm, BBC1

Meet Roshan Chandy

Roshan's Top 5 Films of the Week

Follow Me on Twitter

Rating System

*** 2 Thumbs Up
Thumb Up
* Waving Thumbs
** Thumb Down
* 2 Thumbs Down

Archives

DVD OF THE WEEK

County Lines (DVD and Blu-ray)
(15, 90 Mins)

TV MOVIE OF THE WEEK

I, Tonya (2018)
(15, 119 Mins)
Sun Apr. 18th, 10pm, BBC2

BORN TO KILL (2017)

SEASON 1 EPISODE 1 TV REVIEW/RECAP

*** Thursday, 9pm, Channel 4​

LINE OF DUTY SEASON 4 EPISODE 2 TV REVIEW/RECAP

***Sunday, 9pm, BBC1

Meet Roshan Chandy

Roshan's Top 5 Films of the Week

Follow Me on Twitter​

Rating System

***** 2 Thumbs Up**** Thumb Up*** Waving Thumbs** Thumb Down* 2 Thumbs Down​

Archives

DVD OF THE WEEK​

County Lines (DVD and Blu-ray)(15, 90 Mins)

TV MOVIE OF THE WEEK​

I, Tonya (2018)(15, 119 Mins) Sun Apr. 18th, 10pm, BBC2

***
Thursday, 9pm, Channel 4

***
Sunday, 9pm, BBC1

Follow Me on Twitter

*** 2 Thumbs Up
Thumb Up
* Waving Thumbs
** Thumb Down
* 2 Thumbs Down

DVD OF THE WEEK

County Lines (DVD and Blu-ray)
(15, 90 Mins)

TV MOVIE OF THE WEEK

I, Tonya (2018)
(15, 119 Mins)
Sun Apr. 18th, 10pm, BBC2