I've been saving this one so those who had to do what I did and watch it on iplayer have been able to catch up before I blurt anything out.
Let me tell you, wow, what a wild ride. What I will also say at this point, is this is certainly not a background noise kinda show. Early on in the show I flitted in and out and missed some bits and that made it difficult to prepare for the twist. This is a very intricate kind of trap. Pay attention.
I honestly can't say I've stopped to watch a James Nesbitt show since Jekyll back in 2007. He's both everywhere and nowhere at the same time, but wow what a brilliant actor. That guy has got RANGE. I watched the last episode and was astounded to see how his face went from fury, to broken, to crying, then to threatening. All I can say from that coherently is he truly embodies his characters. I had no doubt that this was a broken man reeling from the loss of his wife and the not knowing of her demise.
What a seriously wild plot though. Each episode throws a suspect on who the murderer Goliath may be and all the conflicting evidence points to Nesbitt and then to his boss and then to Tori, his daughter's teacher, but it always leads back to Nesbitt and with good reason too. I mean after all the key to this story is the pendant, and if you've read this far and haven't seen it, don't worry, this is not a spoiler. The pendant is that of an Owl and supposedly 'helps you to see in the dark' which obviously has superstitious significance and shows the deep and loving connection between the two spouses who each have one. They even have their initials on the back. Don't read any further than this point if you don't want spoilers.
SPOILER WARNING!
It is this pendant which is the damning evidence that Nesbitt is Goliath. At first we are made to think that he is the killer once the necklace comes to light, but then suspicion is removed and placed on someone else, first Adam Corry, then Jackie Twomey both of which come out clean. Actually the former gets shot dead to match his dead brother which started this whole thing, but Twomey comes out clean after evidence is planted to incriminate him.
What fascinates me is the fact the whole time we were fed hard evidence to show Nesbitt was the villain of this story and yet as it seemed so obvious we dismissed it. He was so convincing we just knew it had to be someone else. Even when we saw him execute someone, he showed so much remorse that we just assumed there was a good reason for doing this. There wasn't. Admittedly, he regretted every life he stole, and as it turns out he was forced to do so, so we ended up with a mob-esqe plot, but even still what an ending. The worst thing about it was that we felt inclined for him to go free, we needed this guy to get off even though he was the bad guy! We spent 3 episodes feeling bad for the man, why should the 4th be any different?
Bloodlands was ladled with suspense. To the point that, as I watched this with my parents, we were not allowed to spoil anything for my dad. The tension was so high it had him hooked, the king of background watching, even he put down his phone for this one. Honestly, this is the perfect binge-worthy show, you need answers and you need them now. Each episode raised more questions than it answered and just think how catastrophic that was for people like us who had to wait for a whole week in between episodes. Even worse when we caught up on a Wednesday and we had to avoid the internet for 3 days in the event of spoilers.
It was so hardcore! This is exactly the kind of crime drama I want from a sleepy little town in the middle of nowhere. It was a big conspiracy, with a supernatural name, this is the kind of stuff I love. Where it was effectively a cold case from 22 years previous things get hazy, with a murderer known as Goliath and missing bodies, things are bound to become more myth/legend then fact. This alone gives ground for suspense and to actually be frightened. Goliath seemed like the boogeyman, he was coming back to haunt these select few, and it wrapped up loose ends quite nicely. We eradicated a mob boss, a terrorist/terrorist's brother, a threat to the secret of Goliath, and all this allowed Nesbitt to continue a life with his daughter, keeping her safe from the knowledge her father is Goliath. They can now live happy considering everything he's been through.
I've not got much to say on this one if I'm honest, probably because I'm still in shock. I can tell you it's Irish, it has 2 members of the cast of Derry Girls in it, it's a dirty little crime drama with corrupt cops and guns and stuff, but that's about it. I want to let the magic of these wee 4 episodes catch you as they did me. It tells the story far better then I could, so I better get on with the review.
I give Bloodlands a chilly little 7/10. The hour flew by, you can always tell a show was good when you lose track of time and before you know it, it's over. This was one of those shows. All I can say is that it is really good. It isn't often you get convinced by a BBC character that they deserve redemption even when they are a killer. That took some acting and it was utterly believable. Nesbitt and all the cast here need congratulating, what a stellar performance. It all came together very nicely and to be completely honest it was the work of their facial expressions that did it. Nesbitt does the broken man really well, the guy who played Twomey did anger and indifference to a T. Niamh, the loyal and yet worried second, wore her heart on her face. And Tori? She took a turn for the worse didn't she, she knew exactly what she was doing and how to hide her emotions when she head something she didn't like, so she could play it later. Wow oh wow.
I also just want to mention how BBC dramas are always so dark and yet we are drawn to them. I find that a lot of my favourite shows of this genre are from the BBC, and I think the nation agrees, just look at Sherlock. Nuff said.
As always my people, keep safe, have fun, and until next week...
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