Season 51 - The Long Song (2021)
I've been a fan of Hayley Atwell's for what seems like forever, but looking at her credits it's been about twenty years starting with the Sally Lockhart films. But it was her portrayal of Agent Carter, giving us a non-superpowered kick-ass female lead in the male dominated Marvel universe that forever made me a fan. That and her hilarious lip-synch videos and self-deprecating social media presence. So I was aware of The Long Song since the day it first started filming back in 2018. And since the day later in 2018 that it aired in England. Nowadays with shows being shown almost simultaneously stateside thanks to premium cable channels and services like BritBox I kept waiting for The Long Song to finally air here. And I waited. And I waited. Seriously, Howards End with Hayley's portrayal of Margaret Schlegel ran on Starz and even re-aired TWICE on PBS and still I waited for The Long Song. Until finally it was announced as part of Masterpiece's 51st season in 2021. I would finally get to see the adaptation of Andrea Levy's book! And ironically, considering how long I waited to see this, I think 2021 was the perfect time for it to air. Right when America finally said enough and embraced Black Lives Matter on a scale it should have always been embraced. Though sadly since that time we've regressed, and it's more important than ever to look back and see the horrors of what we have done in the past and continue to do in the present. To know that this is our history. This happened and if certain people in power have their way it will happen again. To not flinch away from uncomfortable truths. And the truth of the matter is Hayley is nothing more than odious comic relief, as she should be in this setting. As she herself said "I play a heinous, vile old cow [as] Variety reviews my portrayal: 'an actor who typically radiates warmth, does a remarkable job of curdling the atmosphere of every room unlucky enough to have Caroline in it.'" And her partner in crime is Jack Lowden as the ambitious Robert Goodwin. If you've fallen for him as River Cartwright on Slow Horses, well, here you get to see his true acting chops, joining Hayley in camp odious and vile. I wish I could say I knew then that he'd be a star, but I so didn't. Because the real star of The Long Song is Tamara Lawrance as July. A slave who was taken away from her mother to be a plaything for Caroline. Who, despite everything, is a source of joy. Her life keeps beating her down again and again yet she is a "joyous survivor" as one reviewer said. And that's the heart of The Long Song, showing the horrors unflinchingly but celebrating the joy of surviving and creating a better world. Here's hoping we can rebuild and make a better world together.
I have to admit that I need to start each new year with a transplanted Harlan Coben miniseries. Damn you Netflix! You've created this addiction in me! Since 2020 Netflix has started each year off with a bang by dropping an addictive Harlan Coben adaptation invariably with Richard Armitage in some role. I mean, there's a fair amount of James Nesbitt too, but he's like the extra special sauce only available once in awhile. Last year though 
James Bond is an evergreen. Just look how excited people are about the scant pieces of information that have been released about the next film. I know we don't yet know who will be Bond, unless there's been some major announcement since I typed this and it posted, but the Steven Knight news has me very excited even if he should be working on season two of Taboo. Nothing should take presidence over that. I've been waiting for eight years! Yes yes, Great Expectations and A Thousand Blows has numbed the pain, but it's still there. It feels like it will always be there. Anyway, Bond is the gold standard of spycraft, but with shows like Killing Eve and Slow Horses, espionage and hired killers are making a big comeback. Especially if they're slightly inept. The Jackal is not inept. But things really don't go his way. And he's so committed to his job, he holds a grudge so tightly, that, well, he'll do what he promised to do. Eventually. At any cost. Whilst also enacting sweet sweet vengeance. This is a wonderful modernization of the de Gaulle-heavy book which utilizes modern advancements in weaponry and subterfuge coupled with Eddie Redmayne's chameleonic acting abilities. I mean he's no Jodie Comer, but he'll do. And while you don't like this cool character, you root for him. You do not want him to be caught. You want him to live another day and take his cute little suitcase that transforms into a deadly weapon and just kill all the people that are causing trouble in the world. Of course, being such a renowned assassin means he has operatives obsessed with finding him. That obsessed operative is Bianca Pullman played by Lashana Lynch. The two of them are in an interesting dance. They are almost symbiotic. There lives are eerily similar. They both have partners that suspect that they have secrets and who know, deep down, that if forced to choose they will choose their work over their family. The job is everything to both of them. They have blinders on to everything else. And, like The Jackal, you don't like Bianca. The Jackal doesn't have a moral compass, but Bianca wants to believe she does. So the way that she exploits people to get what she wants is reprehensible. I know this is a bit of a conundrum. What I like about The Jackal I don't like about Bianca. But it all comes down to flair. He has flair and she's just flailing. He can pull off Edward Fox's iconic look from the 1973 adaptation and she always looks like she's lying. Which she is. Though that doesn't matter anymore now does it? Because if you've watched the show you know that she fails and dies at the hands of The Jackal. She has found him, tracked him all the way to his home, and in the end, that tiny bit of humanity is probably what did her in. No. That's being too kind to her. She just wasn't quite good enough. She didn't deserve to succeed. And the very fact that she failed is what made this series work. Her death justifies it all. I knew that he'd survive to kill another day as they are doing a second season and this isn't an anthology, but her death was a blessed surprise. It showed that she was a failure. Something the viewers believed, deep down, since the first episode. She was a wreck and belonged with Jackson Lamb. Yet the show built the two of them up to be a great showdown of colossi, so one of them couldn't have feet of clay could they? Well, they both had their weakness. At least the writers didn't hesitate to pull the trigger on the weaker one.
When I first heard of Slow Horses I was totally indifferent to it. A spy show starring Gary Oldman? No thanks. I didn't care that everyone was talking about it and lauding it, I was totally uninterested. And then three things happened in close succession to make me change my mind. First, one of my best friends asked me if I watched it, describing the show as Gary Oldman farting. A lot. That intrigued me. And yes, I have the comedic taste of a preschooler. Second, I saw Kristin Scott Thomas on The Graham Norton Show, admittedly an episode from at least two seasons ago because I hoard them to watch when I decorate for Christmas, and the way she described the show piqued by interest. Personally I don't like tales of espionage, I'm not my Dad, I couldn't watch The Bourne Identity on a loop and be entertained, but hearing that this was about disgraced and dysfunctional spies I was far more interested. Third, and finally, over the years I've kind of developed a dislike of Gary Oldman. I think it's because this man who was the darling of independent cinema was viewed as "selling out" when he campaigned so hard for the Oscar that he won. Personally, in my mind, he sold out earlier when he starred in the Harry Potter films, a role for which I particularly felt he was miscast. For the new season he was opening up about his other roles and mentioned that he only took Harry Potter to support his kids and he thinks his acting is shit in it. That was such a refreshing answer that I thought, you know what, it's finally time to give Slow Horses a shot. And I'm very lucky I waited so long because I binged all three seasons available so quickly I'm still suffering from withdrawal. But hopefully by the time this posts I'll be in the midst of season four. Because thankfully there's a season four. This show is addictive and propulsive. The agents of Slough House are used again and again as pawns by their higher ups and yet because they are basically all basket cases they don't approach anything normally and therefore are able to thwart expectations and come out ahead. I mean, still in a shitty building at the ass end of the service, but they have skills that others don't and that ironically makes them a valuable asset. None more so than Gary Oldman's Jackson Lamb. Lamb is a slob. But it's my opinion that he uses this offensive behavior to make people underestimate him. People are so repulsed they don't pay attention to him. He was once a top agent, he could have been First Desk, but having to kill one of their own broke him. He decided he just wanted a boring job and to keep those around him safe. To create a haven for all the misfits. He might badmouth them all, but the truth is, he cares, probably too deeply, and therefore shrouds himself in a miasma that only the brave dare approach. And while each season is wonderful on its own, this season, based on Real Tigers, is so batshit off the wall you might need to watch it in one sitting. There's plots within plots, but most importantly, we see how Jackson Lamb would have fared in Kevin McCallister's shoes. The answer is very well, and Harry and Marv would have been very very dead. I particularly liked the knife IN the bannister.
