A very slow start as they established the characters. Given the hype in the previews linking it to Line Of Duty and Bodyguard a lot more was expected. Script so far has been very predictable. Pilot episodes are often the worst episode of a series so will wait for episode 2 before deciding if the rest of the series will be worth it or not.
A generally competently-made episode with lengthy, sustained stretches of legitimate intensity undone here and there by "Hollywood-isms" (for lack of a better term, realizing this is a British-made program): character quirks (she HAS to have her LUCKY pliers/cutters); forced character banter and handshakes to forcefully show how close the partners are that come across very forced and scripted; her blaring music and bobbing her head along in sync with the bobble-head dog; a lot of lone wolf moments where she takes off her helmet and goes straight towards the potential bomb, protocols be damned!! (major eyerolls at those moments) to, what, show how independent she is? how much she cares about innocent people? Then there's that one bound character with an explosive vest on freaking out, very annoying. idc how people would react in real life but watching someone flailing around and panicking when directly and clearly being told not to and to be still so the experts can disarm the explosive vest they're wearing is always annoying and makes you want to smack the character. Watching 3 people behave calm and cool under pressure and have the silence filled with dread and nervous anticipation beats trying to calm down a panicky character any day.
Forced bits of dialogue to give exposition about the characters' personal lives and background to make us care about them or whatever
Still, overall competently made. The intense moments are effectively so and even when characters banter in moments of respite, there's a sense of lingering dread clinging heavily in the air as I half-expected an explosion to happen in the more relaxed moments (so I certainly saw the last moment happening). The explosion was kind of janky though? Like a bag of dust just went off? It was explosion that seemed to be quite free of any fire
Saw Jed Mercurio's name in the credits at the end, makes sense
May or may not watch more, but as background noise
Shout by Dave McAlisterVIP 7BlockedParentSpoilers2022-03-05T14:50:00Z
For supposed experts they made far too many basic errors. There is no way that they would have lifted the cordon before all checks had been completed. A trained bomb disposal person would not have approached suspect vehicles in the way they did either. I'll watch the next episode to see how it goes but I'm not impressed so far!