Stream It Or Skip It?

We have come to appreciate British thrillers like The Game on BritBox, because they manage to pack in a lot of story in four episodes. They don’t spend entire hours in flashbacks or talky scenes that don’t move the story along. While there may be some plot holes, you can’t say that shows like The Game don’t keep the tension consistently high.

THE GAME: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT? 

Opening Shot: A police detective runs into a warehouse, and on the radio he tries to call to his colleagues, saying “I got him!” But while he searches, the perp gets the jump on him and wacks him in the head. In a haze, the cop sees the shadow of the perp, who says, “Catch you later, detective.”

The Gist:  Some months later, DI Huw Miller (Jason Watkins) is retiring from the Ripton County police force. On his last day, he asks to say goodbye to the rest of the detectives, and the only person who pays any real attention to him is his former partner, DS Jenny Atkins (Amber James).

One of the reasons why Huw decided to retire early, besides his pension maturing, is that his status on the force was diminished with his failure to track down a serial killer named The Ripton Stalker. Like in the warehouse, he seemed to come close to the killer many times, and would mention how close he was getting to the press. Then, every time the killer slipped away, the department was embarrassed. It got to the point where he was taken off the case.

During his first days of retirement, he’s driving his wife Alice (Sunetra Sarker) nuts, listening to a podcast about The Ripton Stalker and his involvement in the case, and golfing with his neighbor Frank Byrne (Gordon Kennedy). When Huw goes to return a golf club to Frank, he ends up finding his friend dead in his bathtub. Jenny comes to investigate, which Huw thinks is a bit strange; she tells him it’s an OD, which he also finds odd. But Jenny is more concerned with the fact that Huw copied classified police files on The Ripton Stalker before he retired.

Frank’s house goes on the market, and almost immediately, a charming man named Patrick Harbottle (Robson Green) moves in. He owns a repair business, and the two men hit it off right away. After a night at the pub with some other neighbors, though, Patrick says goodbye by saying, “Catch you later,” triggering Huw into thinking that The Ripton Stalker is now his neighbor.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? The Game, written by Tom Grieves, reminds us of The Catch, another thriller starring Jason Watkins.

Our Take: The story of The Game will operate on two fronts. In the main story, Huw will just not let go of the notion that Patrick is The Ripton Stalker, and that he purposely killed Frank and moved into his house to torment his old nemesis. But the secondary story is how his continued obsession with the Stalker will affect his relationship with Alice and daughter Margot (Indy Lewis). To us, the second story is more interesting than the first.

Sure, in the four-part limited series, the cat-and-mouse game between Patrick and Huw will definitely drive a lot of the action. Huw was so obsessed with catching the Stalker that it cost him respect amongst most of his colleagues, caused Margot to cut off contact, and almost ruined his marriage to Alice. But, in true British crime thriller fashion, it’s the One Case That Got Away, and retirement wasn’t going to deter Huw from continuing to pursue it.

He’s probably not wrong about his suspicions, but that’s where the more interesting part of the plot comes into play, as he tries to get Alice, Jenny and others to believe him. At this point, they all think he’s starting to go over the deep end with his suspicions of Patrick, either due to retirement boredom or his general obsession with the case. So the efforts he’s going to make to prove his instinct is correct and get people on his side will be the engaging side of the story.

Performance Worth Watching: Sunetra Sarker is great as Alice Miller; we can see how much she loves Huw, but we also know how hurt she was by his obsession with the Stalker, and it’s evident when she confronts him after seeing him snooping around Patrick’s bedroom during a housewarming party.

Sex And Skin: None.

Parting Shot: After the party, and Patrick seeing evidence that Huw was snooping in his bedroom, Huw looks out his bedroom window to see Patrick on his 3rd-floor balcony, looking at Huw with a smug grin on his face.

Sleeper Star: We’re not sure how she fits into the plot, but Amy Huberman is funny as the Millers’ booze-and-horniness-fueled neighbor Liz Maguire.

Most Pilot-y Line: When Huw wakes up at 9:30 AM and sees Patrick visiting with Alice, he wonders why Alice isn’t at work. When she says it’s Saturday, Patrick snarkily goes, “You’re so retired, aren’t you?”

Our Call: STREAM IT. While we’re unsure if the twists and turns in The Game are going to be good or stupid, we’re still interested in how Huw is able to hold onto his family while playing this cat-and-mouse game with Patrick.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.