The Jetty

So, this isn't as woeful as some have said, nor is it as good as others have, but it DOES suffer from the same pitfalls as all of those ABYSMAL Harlan Coben shows that netflix started commissioning.

It's shot mostly in close-up, a lot of the various b-plot threads are irritating, and it's trying to make the audience NEED to know where all the mysteries lead... Ok, it's not actually Mr Coben's fault that's happened, but it IS the worst trend in TV these days. Focusing more on hooking an audience in with a mystery than actually making the story interesting.

What saves this is some of the performances. Jenna Coleman is very good, as is Tom Glynn-Carney, but even some solid performances don't make it better than fine.

A fundamental issue in stories with noble intentions is often the writer can't get out of the way of the moral, zeitgeist messaging long enough to tell a gripping, viable story. The by-product of that can lead to ridiculous, convoluted or forced plot points to desperately generate some level of excitement. This suffers from both. But that's not the only problem with The Jetty. At least fifty percent of the scenes here feel inauthentic.

There are so few realistic human interactions throughout with most feeling like the writer was desperate to crowbar in witty and pithy one-liners at the expense of anything credible. The dialogue is clunky at best. Just as an example, at one stage Caitlin's mother delivers the line 'I told Caitlin you lock them in your bottom drawer'. Ember replies 'who?'. What kind of response is that!? 'Them' would clearly suggest an object. Or does Ember actually believe Caitlin locks people in drawers?! This might seem minor, but these clunks in dialogue are peppered throughout with characters jarringly delivering wax-lyrical lines in tense emotional moments in a way no actual human ever would.

That's one of the many issues with the main character. There's such a desperation to establish her as the edgy, hard-nosed cop and laid-back mother that the writer often forces those character traits into the scenes. Whether abusing the man who just had his building burnt down or swearing at a records clerk just doing his job or cracking open a beer for her teenage daughter, it just all feels plastic and forced.

These kind of actions and reactions by the protagonist as well as everyone involved rarely feel like genuine character moments, serving mainly to further the plot, but at the expense of logic. Town inhabitants who have seemingly known each other years, interact like they just moved there, purely to deliver exposition. As an example, the ending to episode 3, both in logistics and believability is derisible, not helped by the heavy-handed use of podcast sermon as a device to sledge-hammer home the message.

And message-wise there is undoubtedly a noble intent to shine a light on the dangers of toxic masculinity and how it can thrive in isolated smaller town settings, but everyone involved in this endeavour lacks the skills to translate that to the screen in a way that doesn't come across heavy-handed, agenda-fuelled or, worse still, preachy.

That said, it's not a complete misfire. There is a solid use of non-linear narrative and flashback device to effectively convey backstory, but the key issue is there's just nothing new to say here. Those few original moments come across more like random attempts at shock value (ever wished for a scene where an underage teenager gives hand relief to a horse. You're in luck!) and the less said about the ludicrous final reveal the better.

The overall problem is everything just feels trite and tired which is especially impressive and seemingly hard to achieve given the messaging itself is so timely.

I watched all the episodes in one night as it did reel me in, however, there were instances that didn't make sense. For example, the flashbacks made it seem like they were in 80's as opposed to the early 2000's, the whole seance situations with Ember's Mum were weird and not relevant. And the horse scene!! Really unnecessary!

The biggest part of the series that didn't make sense, and I'd consider a big plot hole, is the fact that no one who Ember worked with connected her to Malachy even though they were married and he'd only died the year before! How is that even possible?! Still worth a watch though.

DC Ember Manning investigates a fire at a jetty, an event that causes her to look into a cold case, the disappearance of a girl called Amy. Ember has to face the prospect of her late husband Malachy being involved.

Ember, the central character was billed as the new Vera, that's the reason I tuned in, but let's be honest here, it's not in the same league, she's a Northern Detective, and that's it.

I found this generally disappointing, episode three is pretty good, but the rest is average at best, not as bad as some of the scathing reviews, and those giving this eight and nine star ratings, I'll have a pint of what you're drinking.

I may be slow on the uptake, but it took me ages to work out that two different times were running at that same time. The narrative is absolutely all over the place, it's hard to follow and keep up with, largely because it's so dull in parts.

Visually it's too dark, it's like Jamaica Inn all over again, some nice visuals, especially at the start of the first episode.

The Male characters are all atrocious, as you'd expect from The BBC, Hitch is a man child, Malachy is a drug dealing creep, Russell is a psycho, Needham is a bully, let's face it, not one of them is even half decent.

Coleman is a very talented actress, but she's totally wrong for this part, I didn't think she had any degree of presence, she at no point feels like a Detective.

I'm not sure I see this being recommissioned.

5/10.

The opening drone shot across the lake is just gorgeous and sets up this 4-parter as being set in a postcard-like place with lots of dark things actually happening there.

There's a missing girl cold case, there is a possible underage pregnancy, there's a guy who likes hanging around younger girls and plenty of the local guys who hang at the bar are just plain creepy.

Jenna Coleman (Ember) is great and has some great comic lines in scenes with Archie Renaux (Hitch), as her sidekick, with Ruby Stokes (Hannah), her daughter and Amelia Bulmore (Sylvia), as her mum. These were the bits I liked best because they gave a bit of light relief from the darkness that much of the story was based on. Nevertheless, while there were lots of plot twists and some very surprising reveals, there was a lot going on and it took a lot to follow the show at times. I did though and was glad I made it to the end because that last twist - WOW!