Animal Kingdom, originally on TNT (now on Netflix), is easily in the Top 10 of all-time best television dramas. Jake Weary as Deran was one of the reasons, and for that reason alone, my wife and I had to watch The Waterfront, also on Netflix and no doubt the reason that Animal Kingdom is now there as well. But Holt McCallany from Lights Out and Topher Grace in anything were other good reasons, and the acting in The Waterfront is first class all the way.
[Spoilers ahead ...]
And the plot is compelling, often thrilling and surprising, too. McCallany's Harlan Buckley is head of a North Carolina family fishing business that's declining, in part because because Harlan has pulled it away from the lucrative smuggling that the business used to abet, after his father who was deeply involved in the smuggling part of the fishery was murdered. Weary's Cane is Harlan's son, who has gotten the business back into smuggling, on a hopefully temporary basis, to get the business to make ends meet -- actually, to avoid a looming foreclosure -- until the fishing can get the company back on its feet.
Meanwhile, Topher Grace gives a tour-de-force performance as an au-currant, fast-talking, veering on demented new drug-smuggling lord. He's the most potent danger to the Buckley hegemony, but they're also beset by other criminals, the DEA, and discord in the family, which includes Melissa Benoist as Cane's sister Bree, and Maria Bello as Harlan's wife, who is also trying to save the business.
After a relatively slow, talky start in the first episode (at least to me), The Waterfront takes off with a series of surprises and twists, which arrive like gut punches which leave you black and blue and wanting for more. Highly recommended, hats off to creator Kevin Williamson, and if you're ever in North Carolina visit the Fishy Fishy Cafe, which apparently was the template for the Buckley fish restaurant.
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