Insoupçonnable

As a fan of mystery/detective dramas, 'Above Suspicion' is yet to grip me. It is not a terrible series and does have its good points, but has several big flaws. So far "Deadly Intent" is the weakest of the three seasons seen so far (have yet to see the fourth).

Sure, it is filmed stylishly and atmospherically and the locations are used well. No drabness or choppy editing in sight. The story never makes you want to look at your watch or do something else, though it is never completely gripping. The villain has some menace to him.

On the other hand, there are still a lot wrong with "Deadly Intent". Kelly Reilly gives her worst performance of the series yet, her expression is so limited, her line delivery has little expression and she is incredibly wooden. You can never shake off the feeling that she is implausibly young either. Even Ciaran Hinds, who actually was pretty good in the first two series, is not enough to save "Deadly Intent". Again Langton is too much of a sleaze and is too cartoonish, and while Hinds is more commanding and involved than Reilly he chews the scenery here to uncomfortable and misplaced effect.

The characters fail to be interesting, instead riddled with badly written and explored clichés. The relationship between the two characters continues to be contrived. The sound continues to sometimes be sloppy and out of sync, the dialogue never sounds natural and while it has its moments the story is convoluted in places and throughout lacks tension or suspense. The ending doesn't ring true at all either.

In conclusion, didn't do much for me and manages to be weaker than the average at best previous two series. 4/10 Bethany Cox

Another run-out for Ciaran Hinds, Kelly Reilly and the team, this time on the trail of the murderer of a promiscuous, drug taking young actress. As usual with La Plante, there are suspects a-plenty, sometimes there you fell just to flesh the story out and a major sub-plot with Hinds on the look-out for whoever's loose-lips cost him a coveted promotion. The convoluted plot, interspersed with a series of flash-backs, is brought, on thus occasion, I felt, to a less than riveting conclusion by the final scene, with the murderer in fact turning himself in by that point.

As for the acting, Hinds is good, perhaps helped by his more developed character, now less chauvinistic and shouty than before. Kelly Reilly as the ambitious, intuitive maverick in the pack still looks more befuddled than brainy in he part. There's some good acting in support, especially amongst the murdered girl's junkie so-called friends.

LaPlante no doubt felt at home portraying the acting world as scabrously as she does here and her dialogue for the most part rings true, but I felt an hour could have easily been lopped off the running-time and a few less unnecessary red-herrings dropped along the way which would have made the production correspondingly tighter and more compelling.

Travis doesn't have a clue about how to dress for a crime scene. Her main focus seems to be attracting admirers. Although her eye make-up is extensive in every scene, she apparently hasn't any idea how to comb her hair. These are all minor diversions that keep the viewer from getting involved in the plot. At the end of one episode, she sceams "I love you" to her superior officer, who's been dismissive of her - what the hell is there for her to love?

It's a miracle that this squad solves any of the crimes the writers have devised. They devised a squad that seems to be made up of about 30 people, but they have no idea how to solve crimes.

Anna Travis (Kelly Reilly) is a new police detective. Her first day does not go well as a decomposing body is discovered. Her new boss DCI Langton (Ciarán Hinds) is her late father's mate. The dead woman is related to a whole series of dead women and a possible serial killer. American acting star Alan Daniels becomes the prime suspect. She begins a relationship with him and also investigates him.

This starts well with an adorable Reilly stumbling through her first day. Hinds is a great mentor character. These two characters have the potential for building a great police procedural. There is no mystery with only one main suspect. The other problem is that Anna goes from zero to a hundred in a flash. She's completely incompetent in the first ten minutes and she quickly turns into one of the best detectives. The show is over-extended and the flirtations between Travis and Langton are really creepy considering his relationship with her. He's basically a creepy uncle. It would be better to eliminate his connection to her father.

This reviewer neither loves or hates 'Above Suspicion'. In every series/season it has its good points, but also an equal number and in the case of the third season even more problems (with at least two of them quite big).

"Silent Scream" is an improvement over "Deadly Intent", and of the four series of 'Above Suspicion' is perhaps second best to the first series, which as aforementioned is also heavily problematic. Starting with the positives, it's well made visually. It is filmed stylishly, tautly and atmospherically, it's moodily lit without being drab, the editing is never choppy or stiff and the locations are well utilised.

It's capably directed and scored ominously, and the portrayal of the acting world is convincing though shocking (scabrous is a good way to describe it too). Generally, apart from some stiffness here and there and major reservations still about the lead actress, "Silent Scream" contains the best acting of all four series. Ciaran Hinds is authoritative and also pleasingly much more subtle than before, effort is also made to develop Langton and here he is surprisingly much easier to relate to thanks to more balanced character writing.

Kelly Reilly however from the very start has been one of 'Above Suspicion's' biggest flaws, and it's the same here sadly. Other than that she looks implausibly young and sexy for the position her character is in the police force, Reilly is still very wooden with a limited range, a pallid presence and flat delivery of lines. The script has a little more intrigue, but is still riddled with clichés, lack of natural flow and triteness.

Despite Langton being more sympathetically written, the relationship between the two characters still doesn't convince with not enough time spent on it. The characters are very cardboard, sketchy in the case of most of the supporting characters, with only Langton getting any development. The story doesn't make one look at the watch or want to do something else, but it is not edge-of-your-seat compelling enough and it's sometimes convoluted. Tighter pacing, more development and a few parts trimmed would have helped things. Use of flashbacks are a mixed bag, some are interesting, others clumsily inserted. The anaemic, rather underdeveloped and incomplete-feeling ending underwhelms as well.

Overall, some good, some not so good, while the second best series of the whole show it's not much of an improvement over what proceeded it. 5/10 Bethany Cox