The Missing: Series 2 review

The Missing was a successful television series written by the Williams brothers, Harry and Jack, which first appeared in 2014 starring James Nesbitt as a desperate father looking for his missing son after he disappears in France on a family holiday.  The series showed two parallel timelines between the incident when the boy disappears to the investigation some time later, led by the inquisitive detective Julien Baptiste (Tcheky Karyo).

The series ended in a somewhat downbeat finale with Nesbitt's character traversing rural Europe still looking for his boy, with many characters broken beyond repair.  Many reviewers thought the series was a stand alone one, with little comeback expected.  Yet the Williams' have returned with a second series, this time however, Baptiste is the focal point of the drama.

Baptiste, is still on the trial of the missing girl Sophie Giroux, and his interest is pricked when a young British girl, Alice Webster, goes missing near to her home at the military camp of Eckhausen, Germany.  When Baptiste begins his investigations in 2014, he is of sound mind and his investigations begins to upset people as more skeletons are let out of the closet.

Again we have a dual narrative as we follow the fall-out of Alice's disappearance in 2014, along with the present day when 'Alice' supposedly returns to her home after escaping captivity.  However, as with most mystery-thrillers nothing is what it seems and the labyrinthe storyline takes the viewer on many twists and turns as Baptiste - who is fighting a brain tumour - becomes a pivotal figure travelling to the Middle East to uncover the truth when a military cover-up may be happening.

In this day and age, the sensitive subject matter of false imprisonment (Josef Fritzel among others) and the unsavoury detail of child sex abuse, the Williams' have taken these topics and used them to great effect to create a story of fear and mystery.

While the thread has been stretched over the eight episodes, we could have perhaps done without the sojourn to the Middle East, nevertheless the acting has been top notch. Karyo brings a rare humility to Baptiste, whose desire to find justice is all conquering even to the detriment of his short-term health.  Keeley Hawes, as Alice's mother, Gemma, continues her purple patch of recent roles bringing a steel to a grieving mother and while David Morrissey's Sam can come across a bit chauvinistic and ignorant, he portrays the rigidness expected of a stubborn man.

The entire ensemble helps elevate the series to your run of the mill whodunit show; from Laura Fraser as the cold Eve Stone, who is pregnant when we first meet her, sleeps with Sam and has to protect her weak with dementia father, Adrian (Roger Allam).  Yet the casting is superb across the board, from Julien's wife, Celia (Anastasia Hille) who share those brilliant intimate moments with Karyo pleading for him to return home to Derek Riddell as Press Liasion officer, Adam Gettrick; the performances are impressive throughout, not to mention the sterling work of the young cast especially Abigail Hardingham in various guises of Alice and Sophie.

In a year of great drama on the BBC and the current clamour for true fiction such as 'Making A Murderer' it is great to see an original drama have you gripped from episode one to its conclusion; and even rarer to see a drama's second series be better than the original. The Missing Series 2 is the The Godfather Part 2 of television drams in that sense. That is the highest praise you can give this terrific series.

The Missing (Series 2) will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on 26th December from Aim Publicity.

12 Angry Men

In recent years, there has been a fascination in my household with crime, justice and the legal process. Since we moved into our flat in May of last year we binged on Breaking Bad, and following that we struggled to find something to match the salivation we had for watching episodes at a continual pace.

I will always remember how me and my girlfriend watched the final four episodes up to the very last episode of Breaking Bad culminating in a 1am bedtime. The next night we finished the series and then we wandered the Netflix gallery looking for something.

Then late in the year we watched Making A Murderer, the fascinating documentary on Stephen Avery's cruel miscarriages of justice in Wisconsin. Following on from that we have watched Errol Morris' The Thin Blue Line amongst other crime stories. It culminated with the viewing of Sidney Lumet's 12 Angry Men from 1957.

Based on the teleplay by Reginald Rose, and co-produced by Rose himself along with lead actor Henry Fonda. Lumet tells the story of a jury made of 12 men as they deliberate the guilt or acquittal of a defendant on the basis of reasonable doubt.

Fonda plays Juror No.8, the one man who suggests the young defendant is not guilty of murdering his father with a knife. Fonda, I shall refer to him as that as he is given no name, takes it upon himself to convince all the others that the facts they have been given are in fact false and not legitimate, ergo there is enough reasonable doubt to not send the boy to the electric chair.

On a hot day in New York, Fonda is the only one dressed in white, like an angel of Liberty placed in this room to tell the others that they are wrong to think the case is as open and shut as they believe. Fonda has to contend with racial bigotry from a number of the jury specifically Lee J. Cobb and Ed Begley, class prejudice from E. G. Marshall and ignorance by Jack Warden, a salesman who would dearly like to get to Yankees Stadium and is indifferent to the whole process.

The original armchair detective

Fonda plays the role as an armchair detective, a man who gives convincing arguments but would prefer the mixed bag of men just take the time to consider that the fate of one mans life is in their hands and they should give it due consideration.

Lumet who would go on to direct such legendary films as Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon and Network, found this as his directorial debut and it marked him as a sure hand with actors able to garner strong performances from many an ensemble. 12 Angry Men is no different, as he gains a real mix of empathy and credibility from all the players.

Lumet tellingly puts his camera at a distance and as the film draws closer to a conclusion only then does he decide to use close ups and extreme close ups such as when Fonda asks Marshall to recall what he did a few nights previously. Marshall sits in his chair sweat running down his face, a depiction of pressure and the climate.

Lumet found solace in the role of Fonda, a harbinger of justice and truth beyond doubt. The film helped pave the way for a global fascination with true crime and how any story has many sides. From the prosecutors to the defence to the victim to the jury, you need only look at the current series of The People vs OJ Simpson to see how a television series goes about showing differing viewpoints of a huge case.

The magic of the film comes from forgetting you are watching twelve strangers deliberating a young man's future. You forget you are watching a film, helped by the claustrophobic nature of Lumet's camera which builds up the tension in the room.  You also forget you are watching a black and white picture, so much colour and life is injected into the piece by the ensemble that 12 Angry Men has essentially become timeless, and that is beyond reasonable doubt.

Making A Murderer

This original Netflix documentary series has been getting great reviews of late on social media, and with the need to save money in the new year and stay indoors, this series looking into the many miscarriages of justice that went against Steven Avery, a small town simpleton from Mantiwoc, Wisconsin who got convicted of a rape he did not commit and spent 18 years in prison. And that was who his problems began.

The series is a labour of love for the co-creators Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos (Demos serves as cinematographer and editor also), who delve deeply into the story of Avery who has to overcome small town prejudice to clear his name once he is out of prison.  Having been freed following his wrongful imprisonment, he set about suing the county court, district attorney and sheriff for their errors.  However, two years after being freed for rape Avery is charged for murder by the same town and district court of Wisconsin.

The story is hard hitting, full of moments that will have you aghast at the seemingly unbelievable behaviour of law enforcement officials and agencies who believed a hunch and set about to systematically destroy the livelihood and well being of one man and his family, because of a petty row from years before.

Steven Avery has an IQ of 70, he is not capable of crimes that are heinously thought through, he is a child and thinks accordingly. He loves his family and they love him, they all admit he could not be capable of such acts. The lengths the police went to to get the guy they wanted is an edictment of the police department which is corrupt and full of discrimination across class as well as race borders.

Following recent events in America over the last two years leading yo race riots when white police officers have not had a case to answer for their illegal actions, it is quite haunting to realise that the police force was doing this back in more innocent times of 1985. But is there really any innocent times when you have a police force protecting you as bad as this?

After one episode (out of 10) you wonder how deep and how shocking can this for Avery as he tries to get off with a murder charge.

The film is an amazing odyssey through the traps and machinations of the judicial process in Wisconsin. And while the story is primarily focused on Steve Avery with obvious reason, as his face adorns all the publicity material, the more shocking thread of the ten part series is the parallel narrative of Steve's nephew, Brandan Dassey, who as a young 16 year old of limited mental capacity is bullied by interrogators to confess to his being at the crime scene thus incriminating himself in the process all without a parent or legal representation present to prevent him from doin just that. The police are shown to be just as manipulative as they claim Avery to be in taking advantage of a young mentally handicapped individual; it also shows their desperation to build up a prosecution against Avery in the worst way by attempting to rip the family apart.

Dean Strang and Jerry Buling

Special mention should go to Avery's two defence attorneys, Dean Strang and Jerry Buling, two men who did not have to take the case but do in the interests of fairness, justice and humility. They try their best to convince the jury to no avail, but the narrative they build up to us the audience witnessing all this information for the first time, leaves you shaking your head as to how anyone can think Avery could or would even do this crime.

The documentary also critiques the way the media mostly the television media helped create this tale in their news reports, making it impossible for Avery to get a fair trial in his hometown as the media and police painted a guilty verdict before a trial began. To think this all occurred in 2005 to 2007 before the existence of Twitter and the age of immediacy, where instant judgment is all around us and offered without thought or reflection.

All in all though, an old bit of wisdom comes to mind, the truth is stranger than fiction.

Shetland; Series 3, Episode 3

Following the climatic death of Ciaran Hinds, Michael Maguire, at the end of episode 2, and following a two week absence due to the BBC's FA Cup coverage, Shetland returned to these shores with more intrigue and drama.

In episode 3, Jimmy Perez (Douglas Henshall) and Tosh goes to Glasgow to investigate why Michael Maguire's witness protection identity was kept from him and his team on the island.

Back on the island, Sandy goes door to door looking for answers to the identity of who helped the shooter getaway after driving to Maguire's location.  This leads to Sandy attempting to confront his partner's cousin, Craig, who we know was on the ferry the night Robbie Monroe disappeared.

The trip to Glasgow allows Archie Punjabi as Asha Israni to speak at last as Maguire's handler, and her deliberate motion of avoiding questions in the interview with Perez leads to a rendez-vous in his hotel and eventual romatic clinch which will know doubt lead to something he regrets.

The connection between Robbie and Michael is further established when not only do they have matching tattoos, they are father and son which leads us to further understand that Michael did not kill his son on the ferry.

Perez was shown to have a vengeful streak also when he encounters the person Maguire was going to inform on, O'Malley played chillingly. O'Malley promises "he can get inside your life, get inside your head" during a confrontation in a dive bar. This prompts Perez to beat up one of O'Malley's heavies in the car park. This leads to the romantic clinch with Asha.

The episode ends with an onimous looking figure burning some evidence in a field, we only see his shadow, is it Craig doing more work to cover up his mistakes or doing what he is told?

This episode at times did drag but the injection of the father-son bond between Maguire and Robbie means there is more than meets the eye, and whilst the clinch between Perez and Asha was a bit telegraphed you get the sense it was building up to something greater. So another four star episode for this reviewer.

Shetland Series 3, Episode 2

The second episode of series 3 cranked up the tension as the Robbie Monroe storyline gained speed, and Jimmy Perez's chasing of Michael Maguire continued apace. Albeit it ended with Maguire being shot and falling off a cliff to his death.

The show continues to create an atmosphere of eerieness and fear all while the majority of the action takes place in daylight. The script cleverly restricts information from us but does not keep us totally in the dark, such as the introduction of the mysterious man on the phone at the start of the episode who discarded a phone into the loch.  His reappearance at the conclusion chasing Maguire across cliff tops was done with great assurance.

The show showed Perez bend the rules to in part fear on Maguire, yet Maguire knows his rights as an ex-prisoner. And the reveal at the end of the episode showing us that Maguire is in fact a Macguffin was a bold show of storytelling confidence from the production.  

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Shetland Series 3, Episode 1

The return of DI Jimmy Perez (Douglas Henshall) in the adaptation of Ann Cleves' novels bodes well for a thrilling season of action for a BBC crime drama.

Taking on a new case following a few weeks break on the mainland, before he has even sat at his desk Jimmy finds himself in amongst it again. A missing young man on a ferry crossing from Aberdeen to Lerwick, draws attention with the combination of a young boy ending up in intensive care after taking Ecstasy laced with PMA, a new toxic concoction that washes up on the shore.

The boy needs a new kidney, and so begins the search for the missing young man called Robbie, who started kissing a girl Leanne on the ferry.

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