Another day means another British crime show that Amazon loves roping me into. The original DVD cover/series cover for this show was rather poorly composed (as are many of the other British shows - they should hire better layout designers) and it made Kelly Reilly's character look kind of tough but she turned out to be something else...
Episode 1: The first moment Anna Travis is introduced in the scene, I was struck by her. She's absolutely gorgeous with slightly unruly red hair, a very slim figure and a very chic black suit and black heels. She's professional looking, fragile and feminine. The opening of the episode is rather generic - prostitutes have been murdered (there's a rather gruesome corpse Travis has to go see) - could there be a link? Yada yada yada. I didn't find Travis the most compelling factor. As pretty as Reilly is, she has an inability to project emotion or "act" - she's aloof and unreachable for the audience. The fleeting time given to her colleagues, especially her boss and their commander makes the show interesting. He's obviously into her and that makes for some nice, tense scenes but I wish they chose a more convincing actress to play her role. That being said, she's a more unique looking actress than most so it's worth it for that.
Episode 2: Having watched too many shows with red herrings within red herrings and twists within red herrings, I was shocked that they resolved everything straight-forwardly. I liked how they presented leads could be found and events connected through a lot of digging and teams working on the phone and interviewing people. It's not "magical crime scene oh that bullet was crowned with a symbol known to 16th century royal families that a cult sprang up from the 70s used and the only survivor is..." or Sherlock types of deductions "that hue of mahogany must have come from two known factories that make wood polish, plus the smell didn't drift more than 5 yards therefore..." Or coincidental guesses that people in the show Criminal Minds come up with that just HAPPEN to be what's actually happening. The last scene with the criminal was MASTERFUL, I couldn't stop watching and it made the whole series worthwhile for me. I'm used to more light-hearted crimes and I have to say that the events revealed were pretty graphic in nature and not appropriate for children.
In conclusion, although Travis isn't a particularly compelling detective for me - I like the dynamic between her and her boss as well as the supporting cast (too brief). Despite a simple narrative, it's refreshing in many ways and the good acting from other roles make this show watchable. It's available for free streaming on Amazon Prime for Series 1 and 2.
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