User Reviews

The present episode is what it is: a pilot. One hour of the show is able to lay out a huge amount of information: general vibe, characters, major elements of the story, etc.

Curious to get further with the story.

The acting, the selected actors, the setting, the ambiance, the cuts, everything is of highest quality. This show starts extremely well and interesting. I hope it continues like that.

A promising start with great cinematography and a well-written story. Robotic dialogue might throw you off at times. That is especially evident with the protagonistic, who can be hard to like. Despite these faults, the backbone is solid and I keep wanting to watch more.

This book adaptation immediately hooks you in. The first part of the pilot moves in so rapid pace and tight editing that viewers have to be invested, they don't have other choice. It's because they are setting up the premise for something bigger. The viewers know it when the focus shifts from jim to Larry.

Jim gets a sentence of 10 years with the felony of possession of drugs and illegal weapons . They establish he is charming guy through multiple scenes . He gets a chance to redeem himself by helping the serial killers mystery. For the thriller lovers this is a treat to watch.

Apple made it just right.

Episode 1 of Black Bird starts in Chicago 1996. After a brief introduction to the Butterfly Effect (how seemingly unrelated incidents can be connected) Jimmy Keene's life is about to be changed forever thanks to a girl on a bike and a business deal. The first episode of Black Bird gets off to a decent start, introducing these two timelines as we jump back and forth between Jimmy and Brian Miller. That works reasonably well to get a feel for the case in question and it's clear this is going to take on more of a Mindhunter edge from here on out as Jimmy works to try and get the truth from Larry. It's an interesting case and the show definitely has a lot of promise from its opening episode. There's a decent pacing to all this as well and the various characters, and the idea of two seemingly unrelated incidents being drawn together, could well be a foreshadowed hint that Larry isn't necessarily guilty of these murders. In the morning, Jimmy's house is stormed by FBI agents who handcuff and arrest him. Jimmy has stacks of cash, illegal firearms and drugs across the table. Even worse, his prosecutor for this case wants to make an example of him. However, if Jimmy takes the plea offering, he'll get 2 years but because of the guns he'll have to do the midrange - which means he'll have to serve 5 years and be out after 4 on good behaviour. This appears to be the only solution. Before court, Jimmy pleads guilty but unfortunately he gets 10 years, not the 5 he was hoping for. Seven months later, Jimmy is still in prison but called in to a meeting. There, he meets Special Agent Lauren McCauley accompanied by Mr Beaumont, the guy who convinced him to plead guilty in the first place. We then cut back 4 years earlier. A woman named Jessica Roach is found deceased in Indiana having earlier gone missing on July 20th. This girl happens to be the one from the bike we heard about earlier in the episode. This is how she's connected to Jimmy's case. The van in the middle of this whole mess happens to be owned by a guy called Lawrence D. Hall. Police are all over this, fronted by Chris Drydale and Sherriff Brian Miller who begin sniffing around and asking questions.

1st of all i thought it was a very good pilot. Introduction to the characters and so on... As for cfbtx's review... I think he's the one that's pretty screwed up. Lol He says that the GNR song that was playing in the 1st 2 minutes came out in 1987 right, and complained it wasn't out in 1996 yet. I think 1996 would have been 9 years LATER if i'm not mistaken? Am i correct Genius? Takes the time to right a dumb review and doesn't even know what year he's in probably. I'm sure he feels pretty stupid right about now. Next time please know what you are talking about before you decide to review.. Looking forward to the rest of the series.

Opening scene of pilot in the apartment says November 1996 and Guns and Roses Mr. Brownstone is playing. It was not released until July 1987. Maybe the music was not meant to be contemporary with the date it was happening but I think not. Why give a date, make a song prominent and not play something out at the time? The pilot is good but when the first thing I notice is something I think is a screw up, it makes me wonder how much effort went into thinking it all through. I will keep watching though.

I didn't care much for the first 10 minutes or so of this pilot. The exposition into Jimmy's criminal enterprise was melodramatic and unnecessary.

The episode only really took off once Ray Liotta (RIP) appeared on screen to ground the viewers with the humanity behind what was a quickly developing story. We understand right away Jimmy's dilemma, his yearning to be out of jail at all costs when going up against the unknown terror that comes in the deal proposed to him.

Next is the interweaving of the murder and missing persons case that has been alluded to. As viewers, we are not privy to the full context of the investigation, but there is this growing sense that it is somehow tangentially related to Jimmy's current day situation.

Only in the final minute, where the scene transitions from Larry Hall's interrogation to that of his photo in Jimmy's case file does it confirm that this will be the man who Jimmy will have to befriend and extract information from. The convergence of these 2 separate storylines was skillfully executed and is the perfect setup to a second episode.

Going in, I don't know if this is a six-episode miniseries or the start of a longer series but this first episode does a great job of setting up the premise and hooking you in.

I particularly like Greg Kinnear in his parallel plotline. I wonder how much he'll be able to appear in future episodes, however.

Paul Walter Hauser is a mystery right now. His character appears to be mentally challenged, which doesn't bode well for dramatic scenes with Jimmy. Wouldn't he be far too easy to manipulate?

Unless he's just been putting on an act to fool the clueless small-town cops. That could be a very interesting twist.

The first 15 minutes were interesting the rest should have been cut by the half at least.

Taron Egerton and Ray Liotto do a fine job here. I couldn't care less for any of the Police and FBI people except Sepideh Moafi. Her play together with Taron is fun to watch.

All those flashbacks to the beginnings of the cases drag on and on - I just skipped those, the details are irrelevant as far as I understand yet. I only need to know the basics, everything else has to develope between Taron and Pauls's characters. That way it can be shown not told, like during the scenes between Taron and Sepideh.

Paul Walter Hauser's way of verbalization is annoying to the point that I didn't want to listen to him anymore. I hope the interaction between him and Taron will be interesting enough otherwise this will be hell to watch.

Halfway into the first episode and I am hooked. Just wondering if this was Ray Liotta's last film😢 it was such a treat watching him again 🙌 I enjoy watching Greg clear also haven't seen him for awhile.