TL;DR – Continued floundering makes those moments when it tries to do something feel lacklustre.

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime service that viewed this series.

The Continental Review –

Well, hmmm, I have enjoyed everything we have gotten from the John Wick universe so far. However, last week’s opening, Brothers in Arms, fell flat in many ways. Now, this is only a miniseries, and the first episode was primarily set-up, which means it may take off from this week.

So to set the scene, it was The Bronx in 1955, and two young boys throw a Molotov cocktail through a window under orders, only to find there were people in there. In the present, Winston (Colin Woodell) manages to get in to see his dead brother Frankie’s (Ben Robson) corpse to say goodbye and collect his personal items before it is cremated. It is a focusing moment for Winston, and a plan is formed: it is time to kill Cormac (Mel Gibson). Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

If last week was the set-up episode, then today’s was meant to be the ‘get the gang together’ moment. I say ‘meant to be’ because while that is in there, it is hidden underneath a wave of convoluted storylines that goes to the heart of why this show is not working yet. It does not know what it wants to be. Is this an exploration of cultural appropriation, the legacy of Vietnam, a revenge romp, or an investigation into the rise of the mafia? If it were a regular TV series with many episodes, then maybe it would have had time to give all of those plot points justice, but here, there is no space.

You do feel like something went wrong in the planning of this show. Was it a larger order that needed to be cut down? Was it a move that was padded out to a miniseries? Did the showwriters struggle to nail what they needed with a miniseries? Did someone have to take a bunch of different scripts and try and salvage something out of it? Whatever the case, you can feel that scattered energy everywhere.

The Continental is not helped by a visual style that is going for gritty, but that just feels dark and dingy, which feels less like a specific mood choice and more of a way to try and brush over the details. This does not help because you still notice things like either the actor they got did not know how to play the cello or the music they were playing on the day of the shoot was not what got added in post. That character might as well have worn a red shirt as well, given how clearly he would die from the moment they were introduced.

What is frustrating is that there were moments that shined among all these frustrating elements. I liked the introduction of The Bowery in this episode because we know that independence does not last, with Zainab Jah absolutely nailing the job. Some of the action scenes were good, especially with the overhead shots that let the stunt team really go for it. Also, The Adjudicator (Katie McGrath) might be the only thing properly linking the vibe of the universe together.

In the end, do we recommend The Continental: Loyalty to the Master? Alas, we do not. There is so much potential here. You can see it. But they do nothing with it, and I am not sure the concluding episode next week can salvage where we are at now.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

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Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of The Continental
Directed by – Charlotte Brändström
Written by – Greg Coolidge, Kirk Ward, Shawn Simmons & Ken Kristensen
Created by – Greg Coolidge, Kirk Ward & Shawn Simmons
Based On – John Wick by Derek Kolstad
Production/Distribution Companies – Last Man Standing Films, Cool-ish Productions, Resse Wernick Productions, King of Brockton Inc, Thunder Road Pictures, Lionsgate Television, Peacock & Amazon Prime.
Starring – Mel Gibson, Colin Woodell, Mishel Prada, Ben Robson, Hubert Point-du Jour, Nhung Kate, Jessica Allain, Ayomide Adegun & Jeremy Bobb with Adam Shapiro, Ray McKinnon, Katie McGrath, Zainab Jah, Marina Mazepa, Mark Musashi & Kirk Ward and Samuel Blekin, Dan Li, Roy Hu, Fflyn Edwards, Ben Robinson, Chris Ryman, Reice Weathers, Jonny Freeman, Philip Philmar & Christine Grace Szarkó