STAR RATING: ***** Brilliant **** Very Good *** Okay ** Poor * Awful
SERIES ONE
Erin (Evin Ahmad) is a British expat, living in Spain with her daughter Harper (Indica Watson) and partner Jordi (Sean Teale), and working as a teacher at the local school. Things seem to flow along normally, until one day she finds herself caught up in a hold-up at a local convenience store, where she swiftly dispatches all the assailants. This sets in motion a chain of events, involving a secret past on both sides of the law, and a run-in with shadowy local bigwig Daniel Lang (Douglas Henshall) that could force her to bring her past to the surface once again.
An action adventure tale can be enhanced, at least aesthetically, with a vibrant surrounding, with sun, sea, sand and luscious mountains providing an alluring backdrop to all the high paced, exciting goings on. And so Who is Erin Carter?, Netflix's latest high octane offering, at least has the location right, slap bang in the Mediterranean coastline. It hasn't, sadly, been as clever with the storyline, as anyone familiar with the 2005 David Cronenberg film A History of Violence will attest, with its depiction of someone living under an assumed identity regaining lethal skills in a moment of crisis. And, after the terribly convoluted first episode, thing's really fail to improve from there.
It's hard to develop any connection with any of the characters or the story they're framed in, given the muddled and disjointed way the script plays out, as well as how increasingly nonsensical the story becomes as it further progresses, a typical trope for an action adventure to fall in to, but further distracting with its other shortcomings. It's also tonally unsure of itself, unsure if it wants to be a no nonsense adventure, or a tongue in cheek send up of itself, with most of the humour feeling awkward and a little forced, leaving it as messy and uncertain as the story.
Some snazzy action in the third act, if you manage to last it that long, elevates things a little bit, but it's generally a sloppy mess that leaves little anticipation for any more. Who Is Erin Carter? On the basis of this, who would want to know? **
SERIES ONE
Erin (Evin Ahmad) is a British expat, living in Spain with her daughter Harper (Indica Watson) and partner Jordi (Sean Teale), and working as a teacher at the local school. Things seem to flow along normally, until one day she finds herself caught up in a hold-up at a local convenience store, where she swiftly dispatches all the assailants. This sets in motion a chain of events, involving a secret past on both sides of the law, and a run-in with shadowy local bigwig Daniel Lang (Douglas Henshall) that could force her to bring her past to the surface once again.
An action adventure tale can be enhanced, at least aesthetically, with a vibrant surrounding, with sun, sea, sand and luscious mountains providing an alluring backdrop to all the high paced, exciting goings on. And so Who is Erin Carter?, Netflix's latest high octane offering, at least has the location right, slap bang in the Mediterranean coastline. It hasn't, sadly, been as clever with the storyline, as anyone familiar with the 2005 David Cronenberg film A History of Violence will attest, with its depiction of someone living under an assumed identity regaining lethal skills in a moment of crisis. And, after the terribly convoluted first episode, thing's really fail to improve from there.
It's hard to develop any connection with any of the characters or the story they're framed in, given the muddled and disjointed way the script plays out, as well as how increasingly nonsensical the story becomes as it further progresses, a typical trope for an action adventure to fall in to, but further distracting with its other shortcomings. It's also tonally unsure of itself, unsure if it wants to be a no nonsense adventure, or a tongue in cheek send up of itself, with most of the humour feeling awkward and a little forced, leaving it as messy and uncertain as the story.
Some snazzy action in the third act, if you manage to last it that long, elevates things a little bit, but it's generally a sloppy mess that leaves little anticipation for any more. Who Is Erin Carter? On the basis of this, who would want to know? **