User Reviews

***SPOILERS***

I rarely write reviews, but this needed one.

I'd seen about 10 mins of one episode and I simply HAD to go looking for it on BBCiplayer.

After episode 1 I was hooked! Intrigued. I was impressed and could wait to continue.

By the end of episode 2. Eh? What the? No way! C'mon.

Even by now having watched all 3 episodes, I still don't think I fully understand.

The writers (although very good at imaginative at what they came up with) seem to have crammed an entire 10 seasons of 10 episode each, into literally 3 episodes.

As many others have already written before me in their reviews, this is so far-fetched and slightly cringeworthy to watch. If only they had kept 20% of the plot twists and ditched the rest, this would have been great.

Probably the most unrealistic (if it's even possible to narrow it down) would be the amount of times the lead character Gabe seems to miraculously evade the police. Between numerous police visits and phone calls, stealth sneaking a van out of a crime scene undetected while convincing everyone he's someone else (twice), getting into a huge drunk driver crash directly in front of police and escaping a chase thereafter, sneaking out of an art gallery as police intercept the others he's just completed a deal with, having zero fear or concern about turning up at a police station to collect an impounded van and not bumping into the officers who are after him.. it just goes on and on. He's houdini!

It's never made 100% clear (or at least not to me) what exactly happended all those years ago. Somebody's father was killed and his own mother was killed. Both in the fire? Or, just the father of ..whoever it was. ?? Anyway, it takes until almost the end of episode 3 before finding out that the girl started the fire but the boy took the blame. I think.

Don't even ask me who the people from the pub are. I have no idea. All i know is, they are friends with his dad.

Perhaps someone can enlighten me.

It's a shame because much of this show was decent and enjoyable to watch. I still couldn't have switched off and gave up on it. I needed to at least TRY and figure it all out. Some of the plot twists were good. But there was way too many for anything to be taken seriously.

The lead actors stood out for me, having seen them all for the first time. Iain De Caestecker (Gabe) and Joanna Vanderham (Sam) were both very good, as was the father who's name i sadly forget. The other actors (for me) were either too under-used or frankly were bad. Sorry.

I'd like to see (and hopefully will) those three I've mention as the stand-out actors in other roles, different movies/series. Wait, I should mention Taj Atwal (Leigh) who I also felt was decent.

As I mentioned at the start, It's extremely rare for me to leave a review and likewise to watch a UK based show, the vast majority of which are garbage. So this was refreshing. I gave it a 6/10 but if only they hadn't overdone the fiction this could easily have been an 8 or 9.

Maybe they might make a season 2 where Anthony is found washed up on a beach ..by fishermen ..who just happen to include Ian (who I think was the father) ...but, it's not Anthony, it's his twin, who's secretly been dating Robo.. and the police are somehow involded (duh, obviously) ...and yeah ..you get the idea.

I watched this because I loved Iain de Caestecker in Agents of Shield. However the storyline really does need some work. I can't quite work out what happened in the fire that was the backdrop of the story, or why everyone was in the pub, or what bound the two main characters together to the extent that the main character took a hand grenade to his life as soon as he heard her voice?! The flashbacks are just too much and yet don't explain anything properly. His mum died, and someone else died but was it one of the boys or someone's dad?! Just a mystery! Also the stuff with the van was a bit ridiculous.

Such a shame as Iain de Caestecker was as good as I remember- his agent should find him some better roles!

OK, it's not brilliant and the story has more holes than a pair of 1960's undies, but it was an enjoyable yarn. Switch your brain off for 3 hours and indulge yourself in some right old pap. I couldn't help but keep asking my wife 'why hasn't he looked at the body?'...

Promised a little, but failed to deliver after 1st episode. Too ridiculous to make me want to watch the rest.

My main gripe is that Gabe is recognised on a phone call by a girl he knew about 20 years ago when they were kids.

Don't know about you but pretty sure I would not recognise an adult by their voice when I only spoke to them as a 12 year old.

Totally stupid to think that's believable.

I watched this mainly because of The Guardian review, that'll teach me! The first 20 minutes or so of the first episode are interesting and intriguing and when you struggle on to the end of the 3rd episode you realise there was germ of a good idea in here but it is woefully handled. First off, the back story; this occupies a considerable amount of episode time and involves at least 6 characters but it is never fully explained and character motivation is thin to non existent. Next, the main plot; this is literally riddled with holes and the continuity is awful, the lead man wanders in and out of work like it's a part time job and nobody says anything, he agrees to move a dead body for a woman he hasn't seen for 20 years - literally no one would do this! Later he agrees to do a money drop, he flees the scene of an accident and happens to to have an uncle with a lockup just down the road, his neighbour is an identity counterfeiter, the police don't do basic enquiries or background checks, and it just keeps on going with increasing unbelievability. Alongside this is an assembly of wooden performances and woeful dialogue, real daytime TV drama, nobody comes out of this well. The real kick up the arse is that as a licence fee payer I part funded this! Don't be fooled, this is not worth wasting 3 hours on.

9.5/10 .... Lately, I've found myself in a bit of a funk getting into new tv series, however, I had no issue jumping into the action packed world of the control room.

The show offered a refreshing take on the 'ordinary man who finds himself thrust into a crime filled world for which is he unprepared'. Typically, shows of this nature tend to lean into unique or established character traits that miraculously save the day such as their ability to hack computers (showing off their sophisticated tech talk) or connect with people emotionally, these shows often turn the characters into incredible crime fighters despite having no history of being physically capable of keeping up with professional fighters. I enjoyed the earnestness and sincerity in which Gabe confronts danger, he reacts as a person who is not only unprepared but one who wants to be as far away from this scenario as possible.

Gabe's innocent, friendly nature leads him to making decisions which many would not as he struggles to make heads and tails of what is going on; the character is trapped with guilt that follows from decades ago, that not only added to his loyal and devoted personality, but also signify just how lost this fully grown man is in the regular world as well as the world he finds himself thrown into. We see how the past interconnects with the present through a series of flashbacks which were not only well acted but edited so seamlessly, too. It has become common for dramas or thrillers to use flashbacks within the last few years, something that many viewers can be irked by, however, I found the flashbacks to be entirely necessary to the story telling and part of the foundations in which this show is built.

The acting throughout was a treasure, our lead Iain de Caestecker gives a phenomenal performance with major references to the third and final episode in which he is put through more than one ringer. De Caestecker is able to perform the role with precision, bringing Gabe to life in a way that no other actor could as the naive, loyal yet uncertain Gabe; De Caestecker takes you on the journey with him and even when Gabe responds questionably to a scenario it feels entirely authentic to Gabe's personality and motivations. Taj Atwal, Sharon Rooney, Stuart Bowman and Daniel Portman are also notable mentions as they did well with the roles given. It is a well rounded cast of talent as even the smaller roles managed to feel authentic to real life, with credits to the actor who played young Gabe.

My biggest struggle was the character of Samantha as I feel that she was shrouded in too much mystery within the first two episodes before we see more to her character in three. Although the show is through Gabe's perspective and we learn who Samantha has become with Gabe, the lack of information given on this character can sometimes lead to a slight disconnect. That is not to say that Joanna Vanderham did not do well with the role, she was great, merely that there was a case of too many cooks stirring the pot when it came to character choices.

Finally, the portrayal of a distant relationship between father and son is nothing new yet this thriller made it feel so uncomfortably real that you couldn't help but yearn for the characters to reach out to one another. A concerned father meddling at the wrong moments could have led to diabolical circumstances, in another thriller it may have led to a wrong person at the wrong time scenario and Gabe having to deal with unresolved family tensions or resentments. And yet, it is that final scene when the two reunite that makes this show so unique; although their lives have become disconnected and they live likes ghosts stuck in a loop, they have a chance to set things right and work on their relationship which is possibly the most satisfying ending and surprising ending you could expect for a thriller. I appreciate wholeheartedly that the writers went in this direction as opposed to a cheap and unresolved ending.