Dylan Buell
Review: Liaison
“Liaison" is a high-stakes, contemporary thriller exploring how the mistakes of our past have the potential to destroy our future, combining action with an unpredictable, multi-layered plot where “espionage and political intrigue play out against a story of passionate and enduring love.”
Vincent Cassel, Eva Green, and Peter Mullan
Apple has never strayed from its realistic, grounded, expensive blockbuster esque shows, and this is no different. While slow at time, 'Liaison' is very layered and contains one of the best protrails of espionage and corrupt governments to date.
Although there was a lot of characters and story to cover, at its center this is a love story above all. Gabriel and Allison were great with both actors giving outstanding performances. The will they won't they thread might have been pulled too long, but at the end everything feels quite tight. The rest of the cast carries their weight, but often felt shoved in or included in scenes they didn't need to be in.
Now obviously with a government centric pot the scale is definitely going to be on the higher side. The think the first 3 episodes capture the show perfectly, while the second half kind of takes a step back where it should've pushed ahead stronger and harder. It was nice to see other country play a role instead of the classic United States and British governments. Adding onto that, the mix of different languages definitely gave a more realistic feel which is something other platforms like Netflix wouldn't of attempted.
Adding onto Netflix, this show is quite similar to their exclusive series 'Treason' which premiered earlier this year. While both series do things better than others, if you're looking for an accurate and detailed peer into corruption and how the real world would look into it, this is definitely the higher level option.
While the series does suffer from some slow moments and forced plot lines, its overall a great watch and a very real concept the world may come to face. The directing and cinematography are great in addition to the music which always hit when needed. Apple continues to hit where it need to on these shows to keep themselves alive in the endless sea of streaming services we are seeing today.
