I Will Find You: Find It!

I probably say this about every Harlan Coben series I review here (11 and counting so far) that it's the best of all the adaptations of Harlan Coben novels I've had the pleasure to see (I haven't read any of them), but (a) it's true, and (b) I Will Find You, just up on Netflix, in its high-powered got-you-by-the-throat action and intricate moebius-strip complexity of the characters and their loyalties, is in a class of its own.

In fact, I don't recall ever seeing such a roster of characters with questionable loyalties to the man in prison for killing his son, except in some earlier Coben works, and those characters were far fewer in number.  As you'll know from seeing the trailer (and there'll be no other spoilers in this review other than what's in the trailer), David Burroughs (the father) didn't do it.  And when a current photo turns up in which his son Matthew is alive and well, I  Will Find You is off and running.  Everyone is suspect in one way or another for doing what really happened, just about every friend and relative and supporter has conflicting interests, and may or may not be part of why Burroughs landed in prison.  Even the villains may or may not be responsible for what happened to Burroughs.  The Boston police are riddled with bad guys -- nothing new about that -- and the FBI, with a father and daughter somehow working together, bring what we see in the excellent FBI series on CBS to a new level.

A story like this takes great acting, and I Will Find You has it.   I haven't seen much if any of Avatar, but I did see him in Titan, and Sam Worthington as David Burroughs does a fine job.   I have indeed seen and much enjoyed Britt Lower in Severance, and she's dynamite in this new series.   Jonathan Tucker, whom I first saw in The Black Donnellys and then in Debris, brings his usual intensity as Adam, one of the complex cops. Milo Ventimiglia, whom I first saw in Heroes, and Madeleine Stowe, whom I first saw in 12 Monkeys (the movie), play crucial roles.  Chi McBride, whom I first saw who knows how many years ago in I, Robot, and Logan Browning, whom I don't recall seeing before, were memorable as the father-and-daughter FBI team.  And it's interesting, at least to me, that everyone other than Browning have major science fiction roles in their past.  If there are any science fiction producers reading this, I'd recommend they cast Logan Browning for a major action role.  She's equally adept at leaping tall buildings and sassy conversation.

Today is Father's Day, and I'm looking forward to seeing my family.   I Will Find You was put up on Netflix just a few days ago.   In addition to its other virtues, the series makes a good testament to a father's unbending devotion to his son.

 

Severance 2.2: Multiple Dylans

An extraordinary second episode of the second season of Severance on Apple TV+ today -- mostly a prequel to the first -- pushing this season to be well on its way to exceeding the first in sheer ideational power, which is high praise indeed.

[And there will be spoilers ahead ... ]

Severance, of course, is about how the same person can be two people, expressing different emotions, living two different lives.  We see this powerfully played in Helly/Helena (fine acting by Britt Lower).  Mark's innie is falling in love with Helly, who kisses him in Season 1.  Helena the outie turns out to be the daughter of Jame Eagan, CEO of Lumon, and a direct descendant of the almighty Kier who started all of this back in the 19th century (and, yes, there's a Big Love-ish flavor to Severance).  Jame shows his appreciation of his daughter by calling her a "fetid moppet," one of the nastiest things I've heard a father call a daughter on a TV show or anywhere else.  Maybe because of this, and who knows what other reasons, Helena takes great interest in the video of her innie kissing Mark's.  As Milchik tells Mark's outie, the good emotional things that can happen to an innie eventually seep through to the outie.

But this doubleness, if that's a word, is both multiplied and lampooned with Dylan G. in this episode.  First, we see a character -- on the outside, pretty high up in Lumen -- who looks a lot like Dylan.  That would be Mr. Drummond. Then, as Dylan's outie goes looking for a job, he's interviewed by a Mr. Saliba, who looks so much like Dylan that he (Saliba) even says so.  In fact, I thought for a moment that Saliba was being played by Zack Cherry (who plays Dylan) -- same for Drummond -- but it turns out Saliba is played Adrian Martinez, and Drummond by Ólafur Darri Ólafsson (whom I first saw in The Widow a few years ago).  So, I don't know, but this had to be deliberate.  Or, it could be, at least in part, because Severance's creator and writer Dan Erickson looks a little like Dylan, too.

There's also great dialogue, as always, in this episode of Severance. For some reason -- maybe because I gave a lecture there a few years ago -- my favorite line was delivered by Mark W., who, fired after his very brief employment at Lumon because the company wisely decided to rehire not only Mark S. but all his original innie colleagues, at least until "Cold Harbor" (whatever that is) is completed, Mark W. angrily says, "I broke a lease in Grand Rapids".

And, just to top off this brilliantly entertaining episode, we're given a big hint at the end by Harmony that she may know something about how and why Mark's wife Gemma died.  The way Harmony drove away, there's a chance she killed Gemma, or knows who did.

Add murder mystery to the mix. See you back here next week.

See also Severance 2.1: Ultimate Fake News?

And see also Severance 1.1-1.2:  Erving Goffman Meets The Prisoner ... Severance 1.3: The History and the Neighbor ... Severance 1.4: Deadly Ambiguity ... Severance 1.5: Second Lives ... Severance 1.6: Lumon on the Outside ... Severance 1.7: Overtime Contingency ... Severance 1.8: Fired, Kissed, Almost Fired ... Severance: Season One Finale: Stunning Revelations