MrsYisWhy

Will Sharpe at his quirky best in this underrated comedy. Actually everyone in the cast is pitch-perfect, but Katherine Parkinson is especially unapologetically brittle. I loved her in "Rivals." What a joy to happen upon this show on a streaming service. I'm utterly bereft that COVID prevented the 2nd season from happening. I wish I knew who to petition to bring it back.

This show progressed from intriguing to sluggish, finally evolving into a full hate watch. The writers have the characters make inconceivable choices that transcend all reason. It's pretty clear they only wanted to stretch what probably should have been a movie into a bloated 10 episode series. The romances and family dramas were completely unnecessary to the story and seemed rather unlikely for an elite assassin and MI6 agent. Did we really need this? I rolled my eyes so often during these sections that they almost got stuck. And that absurd macguffin of "River"? The tech was hand wavy and the founder was so annoying and arrogant, I was hoping he *would* get killed. At least the soundtrack was good.

Between this film and "We Are Lady Parts," it seems impossible for Manzoor to hit a false note. Her characters are wonderfully engaging, demanding that you root for them. I enjoyed every minute of watching these women embrace their power. Hollywood take note: female audiences are hungry for more unapologetically strong, opinionated women. I only wish more female directors of color had opportunities to tell their stories. What a far more interesting place the world would be. I also loved the soundtrack. You can tell that Manzoor loves music the way she mixes genres to emphasize the story. What a great use of the X-ray Spex song "Identity."