'Messiah' is an incredibly compelling show and should have lasted longer.
It got off to a great start with a thrillingly taut and uncompromisingly disturbing first series, the second series was every bit as strong but while still solid because of the difference in tone, the over-obviousness and ridiculousness of the final solution and the wrong characters being underused the third series disappointed a bit.
"The Harrowing", the fourth series of 'Messiah', is a return to form, and to me it's the best since the first series and comes close to outdoing it. It looks great, there is a great deal of atmosphere and it's all beautifully and stylishly filmed. It's ominously but never over-bearingly or intrusively scored, some of the music is effectively understated, and the direction doesn't let the tension slip, the atmosphere to dissipate or the pace to rush or plod.
Writing is thoughtful and tautly structured, while the story draws one in right from the start and never lets go, it's tightly paced, suspenseful and apart from getting a tad complicated in places it's always cohesive. It also never feels bloated from trying to do too much or too thin from not having enough going on. The murders are inventive and harrowing, and the final solution is the best of all five series to me, it's the most shocking, the most plausible in motive and the best developed.
The characters are written with much more balance and focus here, with Red actually feeling like a main character here in the way that he was too much of a supporting character in "The Promise". The acting is spot on, Ken Stott maintains his usual high standard as Red and has a riveting intensity, nothing came over as overdone to me, and Neil Dudgeon continues to excel in what I consider his best role. The supporting cast are strong, with Helen McCrory being in particular a revelation.
In summary, a return to show for 'Messiah' and the best since the first series. 9/10 Bethany Cox
