Episode #1.10

An hour just flew by with action throughout and an open ending. It has been well documented that there will be a season 2 which sort of takes away some of the excitement.

Not all of the leading characters will make it to season 2 and I your name is Trevor, you own a mobile home and we're thinking of going to Croatia then it's probably best not to.

Philip Jackson is a big name in British TV but never the main star.

He has been a familiar face in Poirot, A Touch Of Frost and more recently, Sherwood so, despite his small role here, he is a safe pair of hands and brings some gravitas to the story.

River which has flowed through the series so far, strangely dries up in the plot.

A good end to the season.

For better or worse, the series leaves us with many characters dead, that we never got the chance to care about.

When we compare this series with an iconic series like "Breaking Bad".. how many characters did we get attached to in BB? Even by the end of season 1 in BB there were around 6 that we had some feelings for.

For the audience to care, for death to have meaning, the scriptwriters need to care also.

One of the missed opportunities in the series was the casting of Bianca. Lashana Lynch followed the storyline obediently, navigating woodenly the violent portrayal of a woman struggling between the spy-world of intrigue and manipulation, and the estranged family life she longs for. She could have made the role her own, made the audience care, but lacked the acting range or force of will to break through the cliches to connect with viewers.

In Jackal, all the characters except the lead are shadows; disposable and superficial. And that is the series greatest failing.

I really enjoyed this show, but the final was the best episode yet.

In this episode we see the conclusion to the Jackal's story and this particular assignment. All sides are trying to clear up any loose ends and distance themselves from their actions. And this leads to some surprising results.

It was exactly what I was expecting and wanting from this series. Although there were some shocks in it!

The actors are amazing and all play their parts brilliantly.

A part of me wishes their had been more episodes, but then sometimes that can mean stories are dragged out, so maybe this was the right way to do it and keep me wanting more.

Alright, this was a very good finalie which I enjoyed from the beginning to finish. The action, the tension, the drama and the pace. Loved everything about, they did not drag any scenes to make it boring, fast paced episode which you would like to expect. Eddie is just a phenomenal actor with a lot to his name.

Moving on to season two there are a lot of things am looking forward for. Very good sesaon one which was building slow but the second half really got me wondering intrigued. Am not overhyping this show by any means, I just think the pacing and acting is perfect. Always things you can add on to the story but this did not disappoint.

Follow up review: season 1

My initial review was after the first three episodes. This is a review for all of season 1.

First I want to say the last 7 episodes reaffirmed my and other reviewers opinion that Lashana Lynch is not qualified to be one of the leads in this series.

She doesn't have the emotion and / or depth, required of her, for this character. A cliche facial expression, and a stifle one at that, is not acceptable for a show of this level.

She gave nothing more than a stand-in would with the ability to recite lines. The more she "acted" the more it felt like she was going through the motions just for the paycheque.

As the MI6 director Isabel Kirby said to Bianca:

"...You failed...,"

"...maybe you should find another job..."

the same can be said of Lashana Lynch in this series.

Eddie Redmayne on the other hand is brilliant In his role as the Jackal. It perplexes me how the casting director can hit the mark on one hire and blow it on another.

10 episodes was not used efficiently to tell the stories of the protagonists. More episodes in similar vein to episode 8 is needed for the other characters. The writing briefly touched on the wife's story but nothing on the MI6 agents nor her brother.

Parts of story was too heavily edited. More of what, where and why need to be told - it was too rushed. Other parts too clean, eg. He's here, he's there, he's done and he's gone.

The writers and editors should study the way AppleTv+'s "Silo" told their story in ten episodes, (season 1). "Silo" had the perfect balance between character building and story telling without feeling choppy.

Overall a good start but could be better. I originally rated it an 8 but dropped it to 7.