Note: This post contains spoilers. If you haven't seen/read/played or otherwise consumed the subject under discussion... beware.

The other day, I mentioned that a lot of Netflix dramas feel flat to me. Flat. Cold. And a little bit dead.

Hostage—currently holding at a decent 82% on Rotten Tomatoes—is one such show.

And it’s not that nothing happens—quite the opposite. In addition to an early-doors kidnapping, the 5-episode show includes assassinations, blackmails, betrayals, and bombs. Not to mention the murder of an old-age pensioner… although—deep cut—he’ll always be Angus MacLeod to me.

Hostage has no shortage of drama; what it lacks is danger and credibility.

By danger, I mean the sense that anyone I was supposed to really care about was going to be truly hurt. (Sorry, Angus.)

By credibility, I mean the number of times my brain interrupts the show to say, “that would never happen”. (Which was a long list this time.)

It’s a shame because the show has two great leads (Suranne Jones and Julie Delpy), and a backdrop that is replete with both danger and credibility (the rise of right-wing and authoritarian forces in Europe).

Maybe next time.

In spite of his very best efforts, cantankerous Detective Chief Inspector Carl Morck (Matthew Goode) remains employed by the police department of Edinburgh, Scotland — and now, he’s coming back for another season of Dept. Q, the hit mystery series from creator Scott Frank (The Queen’s Gambit).

Netflix dramas often feel flat to me, but Dept. Q handily bucked that trend. Highly recommended.

In 2004, the year after our daughter was born, my wife and I were gripped by the pilot of a new show called Lost.

Recently, that same daughter evinced a desire to watch this show we’d talked so much about (both good and bad). I’d felt resistant, but last night we settled down to watch the two-part pilot again… and were gripped again.

Knowing what will come if we continue, I don’t know whether this makes me happy or sad.

–

P.S. The teaser they used to promote that first season in the UK still feels wildly brave to me.

We finished the last episode of Smoke on Apple TV. I’d give it a 7. The show consistently zigged when I expected it to zag.

Great performances by both leads, though Taron Egerton had more of an arc to work with.

The end reminded me slightly of Primal Fear.