Thursday 19 January 2017

THE LEVEL Episode Four review

Man, Episode Three was revelation city:
  1. Nancy is Frank's daughter
  2. Gunner might not be the bad guy Nancy/we thought he was
  3. Kevin is up to no good
Episode Four marks more major dramatic shifts. The filmmakers engage in a little more slight-of-hand with Kevin, by having him get Nancy out of trouble for breaking into Gunner's apartment. For a few minutes, the filmmakers keep us suspended in a state of confusion over his motivations.


Now there is another mystery to solve -- a missing truck containing Frank's 'goldmine', whatever that is. Fearing more leaks, Nancy decides to go undercover as a crooked cop to keep tabs on Frank's sleazy competitor Duncan Elliot (Geoff Bell).

And then the filmmakers drop the sucker punch, revealing that Kevin is bent and working for Elliot. This show is now spinning so many plates, it's rather impressive.

In a nice tie-in, there is time for Nancy to have a reckoning with her dad over her true parentage. It's an interesting contradiction for Crome to play -- for someone so smart, Nancy is completely given over to backing Frank over the man that raised her. By the end of the episode, she's come to the realisation that Frank's blithe disregard for her when she was growing up is not worth defending -- the writers find a way to tie this shift in with Nancy's need to impress Elliot by starting a fire at Frank's business. A neat touch.

Man, this show just keeps getting better and better. The acting, the writing, and even the direction, are really strong (the use of foreground and background action in Episode Three's foot chase is -- with some adjustments -- worthy of a movie). This show is really on the level.


THE LEVEL Episode Three

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