Rellik

From the writers of the brilliant Missing we now have Rellik which is of course killer in reverse. If you watched the second season of Missing you may remember this had a habit of leaping backwards and forwards at times was confusing to follow but ultimately all the boxes were ticked. Well with Rellik the producers have gone the whole hog and made the entire series in reverse, with the ending being at the start of the first episode. It seems to have devided opinion amongst critics and I have to admit it's very hard to follow at times. But like Missing stick with it all will become clear. This is far to good to give up on after just a couple of episodes as the ending is extremely clever and ultimately rewarding. My advice watch it as a box set together it is much easier to follow.

Firstly, I agree with the first review submitted, it is kinda hard to keep a track of what is going on...However, as also acknowledged by the title, it is purposefully done this way, otherwise it would just be another serial killer TV series, with the same old theme, so I think it is a brave attempt at something different, to try and keep your mind guessing!

I have to say though, this is not new, it has been done before, although this is far more adventurous given it spans six episodes.

Overall, I do understand the issue from the first review, but I found once I got used to the time shifts, which admittedly did take me about 20 - 30 minutes, I could keep up with the overall general plot-line, but maybe with missing the odd thing. From what I have understood, time shift occurs around the time when the narrative takes on a specific meaning, if you watch the 'key' bit (no spoilers promise), you will understand what I mean. So this may help if you are yet to watch and intrigued. It also ties up the beginning and end sequences, so you are not left with a totally mind boggling finish, how this will pan out over 6 episodes though I am unsure!

I would recommend this is given a chance, I don't think it has more than one series in it, but then I don't think that is the intention, I believe this is a one off series. Either way, I have marked it based on a fairness for trying new things, but no higher than 7 as once you get the gist of what's going on, there are no dramatically new police story lines (that I can tell), and so it is just a different way of telling the same usual 'cop chases serial killer' story line.

The now tedious fad of winding a plot backwards or rather in this case not just backwards but in different sequences like a messed up jigsaw is plain annoying. It smacks of the writers being too lazy to write a decent plot so instead they just segment the whole thing mix it up and leave you to do memory games for what must be their entertainment rather than yours. Shame I like the lead actor from Game of Thrones and the leading black actress is pretty compelling. Into episode 3 it's quite obvious unless I have overreached what the twist is going to be. Could have been very good but you just know it won't be.

The first ep is confusing, as you need to get used to the backward storytelling, as well as the introduction of a lot of new characters. But this turned out to be a totally brilliant series. Some have dissed this series after only 1 ep (I ask you) which is just plain nuts. A few of the reviews just appear to be either seriously dumb, lazy or both. You have to make the effort with this and focus, but it's worth it as the pay-off is dramatic as well as tragic.

The acting of the 2 leads, Richard Dormer and Jodi Balfour is amazing as well as the chemistry between their 2 characters, DCI Gabriel Markham and DI Elaine Shepherd. They are investigating a brutal serial killer who likes to dowse his victims in acid. With each backward jump in time, you'd think there would be less known in the investigation, but actually as viewers we see and learn more. By the end of the 5th episode it's clear who the killer is, then in the finale we jump forward to where the 1st ep left off and move forward as normal, and what a finale! For me this was the best UK TV drama of the year. Nothing else even comes close.

As others have commented, the constant winding back of time is confusing and takes some getting used to. I had to watch episodes 1 and 2 a second time in order to be sure I was making sense of it. However, having done so, it has become compelling to watch. It's an interesting and brave attempt to try a different take on the stock gritty police procedural murder mystery. As a one off, OK, it's worth sticking it out, if only to see how it can all be resolved without jumping forwards again, but I'm not sure I would bother if there were a second series. I, too, seem to think there's a disappointingly obvious twist coming and I'm only at ep 3, still there's time to be proved wrong, or else perhaps wind back the clock further and change the plot :-)