The Screen Scribe

Episode four, while stronger than its predecessor, again spends an overdue amount of time focused on the personal lives of Bianca and the Jackal. Not only does it burden the episode with poorly executed drama subplots as we witness both leads tackle their rapidly disintegrating personal lives, it detracts from the actual interesting portions of the plot. Whenever there was a family scene involving either Bianca or the Jackal, I found my attention waning and waiting impatiently for the actual plot to progress.

While Redmayne is given a bit more meat to work with on the bones of his subplot, and does a convincing job with it, the issues with his wife continue to feel overblown, extraneous, and just downright contrived to give him an obstacle to deal with until it’s time for his next assignment. I believe this issue is likely a symptom of giving the series a ten-episode run, whereas a shorter, tighter, more focused run of six to eight episodes would have been more beneficial. I’ve also found it rather strange at how increasingly reckless and distracted the Jackal is becoming due to this family drama. A man of his reputation, skill and experience should be able to compartmentalise these issues and not interfere with his work. Again, and I severely dislike overusing a word, but this all feels a bit contrived.

Lashana Lynch on the other hand, through no fault of her own (I blame the script), is starting to feel very repetitive. It feels all Bianca is doing is chasing down dead ends or almost leads that never pan out but constantly put her at odds with her husband and daughter or superiors in MI6, with nothing to show for it only crumbs. Granted, her two confrontations with Larry Stokes were tense, well-paced and concluded satisfyingly, but the family drama sandwiched in between took an element of the sheen from it.

The earlier episodes seemed to want to engage in relevant political messages, but they have faded into background noise without making any kind of statement whatsoever, at least for now. If this thread is picked up in later episodes, I would have to point out that unless they are executed flawlessly and integrated seamlessly within the story, that this is a lost opportunity that can be aimed at these early-to-middle episodes where the ball was dropped, arguably in favour of the less interesting, and frankly at times irritating, family drama of both lead characters.

Overall, the fourth episode is an improvement on its predecessor and maintains a level of intrigue and suspense despite its distracting subplots. The lead actors Redmayne and Lynch carry the episode forward with committed performances. Personally, I’m still waiting for this series to hit its stride after its fantastic opening pair of episodes. However, I remain invested and will continue to watch this story progress.

3 / 5 ✨ from the Screen Scribe.

The Day of the Jackal is available to watch on Sky Atlantic every Thursday.

The first 5 episodes are available to watch now.