Writer: Ben Richards
Director: Alrick Riley
Cast: Andrew Buchan (John Mercer), Peter Mullan (Lenny Douglas), Tamzin Outhwaite (Rose Chamberlain), Jody Latham (Calum McKenzie), Liz White (Jess), Steve Nicolson (Carl Cassidy), Robbie Gee (Elviss Gilroy), Tyler Anthony (Abigail), Sian Brooke (Melrose Cassidy) & Elisa Terren (Manuela)
Mercer has to manipulate events behind Lenny's back, after Callum accidentally kills a racist murderer they're supposed to be keeping an eye on...
I was worried The Fixer would turn into an "assassination of the week"-style show (and it still might), but episode 2 manages to keep things interesting and takes a different tack. It helps that the exposition is over with, and a few annoying aspects of last week's show are polished over -- resulting in a gloomy, portentous crime thriller...
The story revolves around racist killer Jude Cassidy – heir to his family's crime dynasty following the death of patriarch Stuart Cassidy. Unfortunately, a black man called Elviss Gilroy (Robbie Gee) wants vengeance on Jude for killing his nephew in a racially-motivated attack, and has joined forces with Carl Cassidy (Steve Nicolson) – who wants Jude dead so he can assume control of the Cassidy clan himself.
Mercer's handler Lenny (Peter Mullan) would prefer "manageable" Jude take charge of the family, so orders hitman John Mercer (Andrew Buchan) and cheery dimwit Callum (Jody Latham) to protect Jude in their flat. However, Callum is later forced to kill Jude by beating him over the head with an iron, after being provoked by the snide racist – who delighted in tearing up Callum's only photograph of his dead mother.
Fearing that Lenny will kill Callum for his gross negligence, Mercer helps dispose of Jude's body and goes behind Lenny's back to orchestrate a believable cover story for Jude's disappearance. But his plan means roping in sympathetic Rose (Tamzin Outhwaite) and provide vengeful Elviss with a reason to betray Carl Cassidy...
Ben Richards' script has enough twists and turns to keep you on your toes, and the general storyline is inventive at times. I was particularly surprised by how early Jude was dispatched, and how his death fuelled the rest of the story – spinning it off into territory I wasn't expecting. The storyline was simple enough to avoid confusing you, but still snaked around enough to prevent boredom.
In fact, one consequence of The Fixer's format I'm particularly grateful about is the lack of procedural scenes. With all the characters either criminals or good guys who work "above the law", we’re spared all those crime scene investigations, police interviews and court room scenes that clog up the schedules. I have nothing against such shows, but it's just nice to have something that avoids their clichés, but still plays in the same sandpit.
Jody Latham was too jack-the-lad irritating last week, so it was nice to see Callum given more depth and sensitivity here. The tense photo-tearing scene between Callum and Jude was the standout moment of the episode, and Latham showed more complexity in his performance than before. But I still can't see why anyone would want, or need, Callum on a team like Lenny's.
Andrew Buchan's performance as Mercer kept the same general air of sternness, but episode 2 allowed him more opportunities to shine– cleverly manipulating Lenny, Elviss and Carl to help Callum. Buchan doesn't have enough presence to get me excited about seeing Mercer in action every week, but there's definitely potential there. I'm more confident about his casting than I was last week, anyway.
Tamzin Outhwaite's doing what she can with a very thin role, but it's already noticeable how uneasily Rose is slipped into stories. I like the sense that she's a kind of "gangster's moll" to Lenny's character, but Rose can't spend every episode chatting up criminals at bars, can she? The undercurrent of a thorny romance with Mercer is an obvious development, but it could work well.
It's no surprise that Peter Mullan is anything less than excellent as Lenny. The show's blurring of "good" and "bad" is best exemplified with his character -- who has a thug try and beat the truth out of Callum over Jude's disappearance, clearly has Rose under his thumb, and unsettles the atmosphere whenever he's around. Plus, I'm sensing that Lenny's only simmering as a character, so I can't wait to see him explode to life properly.
The rest of the cast were good, particularly Steve Nicolson as slave-trading career criminal Carl and Robbie Gee as a man with an understandable score to settle with Jude. I'm still not keen on Mercer's sister Jess (Liz White), mainly because there's not much chemistry between Buchan and White, and I'm not convinced by White as a victim of prolonged family abuse. She does airy, wide-eyed innocence well, but that's about as far as it goes. And is Liz White condemned to be the dreary side-action for dynamic leading men, following on from her pale support of John Simm in Life On Mars?
Overall, episode 2 (why no titles?) was more involving than last week's opener. It nicely subverted expectations a few times, and made me reconsider my suspicion that The Fixer will just become monotonous and uncomfortable. I was engaged by the story at all times, pleased to see Callum's character made more palatable, and basically find it a refreshing change for British TV -- and particularly for a primetime ITV drama.
17 March 2008
ITV1, 9.00 pm
Director: Alrick Riley
Cast: Andrew Buchan (John Mercer), Peter Mullan (Lenny Douglas), Tamzin Outhwaite (Rose Chamberlain), Jody Latham (Calum McKenzie), Liz White (Jess), Steve Nicolson (Carl Cassidy), Robbie Gee (Elviss Gilroy), Tyler Anthony (Abigail), Sian Brooke (Melrose Cassidy) & Elisa Terren (Manuela)
Mercer has to manipulate events behind Lenny's back, after Callum accidentally kills a racist murderer they're supposed to be keeping an eye on...I was worried The Fixer would turn into an "assassination of the week"-style show (and it still might), but episode 2 manages to keep things interesting and takes a different tack. It helps that the exposition is over with, and a few annoying aspects of last week's show are polished over -- resulting in a gloomy, portentous crime thriller...
The story revolves around racist killer Jude Cassidy – heir to his family's crime dynasty following the death of patriarch Stuart Cassidy. Unfortunately, a black man called Elviss Gilroy (Robbie Gee) wants vengeance on Jude for killing his nephew in a racially-motivated attack, and has joined forces with Carl Cassidy (Steve Nicolson) – who wants Jude dead so he can assume control of the Cassidy clan himself.
Mercer's handler Lenny (Peter Mullan) would prefer "manageable" Jude take charge of the family, so orders hitman John Mercer (Andrew Buchan) and cheery dimwit Callum (Jody Latham) to protect Jude in their flat. However, Callum is later forced to kill Jude by beating him over the head with an iron, after being provoked by the snide racist – who delighted in tearing up Callum's only photograph of his dead mother.
Fearing that Lenny will kill Callum for his gross negligence, Mercer helps dispose of Jude's body and goes behind Lenny's back to orchestrate a believable cover story for Jude's disappearance. But his plan means roping in sympathetic Rose (Tamzin Outhwaite) and provide vengeful Elviss with a reason to betray Carl Cassidy...
Ben Richards' script has enough twists and turns to keep you on your toes, and the general storyline is inventive at times. I was particularly surprised by how early Jude was dispatched, and how his death fuelled the rest of the story – spinning it off into territory I wasn't expecting. The storyline was simple enough to avoid confusing you, but still snaked around enough to prevent boredom.
In fact, one consequence of The Fixer's format I'm particularly grateful about is the lack of procedural scenes. With all the characters either criminals or good guys who work "above the law", we’re spared all those crime scene investigations, police interviews and court room scenes that clog up the schedules. I have nothing against such shows, but it's just nice to have something that avoids their clichés, but still plays in the same sandpit.
Jody Latham was too jack-the-lad irritating last week, so it was nice to see Callum given more depth and sensitivity here. The tense photo-tearing scene between Callum and Jude was the standout moment of the episode, and Latham showed more complexity in his performance than before. But I still can't see why anyone would want, or need, Callum on a team like Lenny's.
Andrew Buchan's performance as Mercer kept the same general air of sternness, but episode 2 allowed him more opportunities to shine– cleverly manipulating Lenny, Elviss and Carl to help Callum. Buchan doesn't have enough presence to get me excited about seeing Mercer in action every week, but there's definitely potential there. I'm more confident about his casting than I was last week, anyway.
Tamzin Outhwaite's doing what she can with a very thin role, but it's already noticeable how uneasily Rose is slipped into stories. I like the sense that she's a kind of "gangster's moll" to Lenny's character, but Rose can't spend every episode chatting up criminals at bars, can she? The undercurrent of a thorny romance with Mercer is an obvious development, but it could work well.
It's no surprise that Peter Mullan is anything less than excellent as Lenny. The show's blurring of "good" and "bad" is best exemplified with his character -- who has a thug try and beat the truth out of Callum over Jude's disappearance, clearly has Rose under his thumb, and unsettles the atmosphere whenever he's around. Plus, I'm sensing that Lenny's only simmering as a character, so I can't wait to see him explode to life properly.
The rest of the cast were good, particularly Steve Nicolson as slave-trading career criminal Carl and Robbie Gee as a man with an understandable score to settle with Jude. I'm still not keen on Mercer's sister Jess (Liz White), mainly because there's not much chemistry between Buchan and White, and I'm not convinced by White as a victim of prolonged family abuse. She does airy, wide-eyed innocence well, but that's about as far as it goes. And is Liz White condemned to be the dreary side-action for dynamic leading men, following on from her pale support of John Simm in Life On Mars?
Overall, episode 2 (why no titles?) was more involving than last week's opener. It nicely subverted expectations a few times, and made me reconsider my suspicion that The Fixer will just become monotonous and uncomfortable. I was engaged by the story at all times, pleased to see Callum's character made more palatable, and basically find it a refreshing change for British TV -- and particularly for a primetime ITV drama.
17 March 2008
ITV1, 9.00 pm
