4 out of 5

Written by: Ron Hutchinson

Like most mystery “types,” Acceptable Risk follows an overall predictable cadence: Being of the ‘Corporate conspiracy’ type, that means an initially innocuous-seeming death of an employee triggers some note of non-innocuous details, which leads to an innocent doing some adhoc investigating and likely getting chased and shot at by conspiratorial corporate folks, only to discover – maybe at the cost of another death or two – that This Goes All The Way to the Top!  Family or friends are kidnapped / threatened, until a final gambit if exposure can be enacted.  Flip a coin on whether the ending goes cynical and cedes to the business or lets the ‘good guys’ win.

For the most part, yes, that path is followed.  And its adherence to this that almost topples things: Our All The Way To The Top! reveal apparently grants the plotters behind the curtain to drop their friendly façades for mustache-twirling no-way-anyone-who-talks-to-you-won’t-know-you’re-evil abandon, and there’s a political mish-mash to sort through – a boon early on, grounding the story – that it feels like the writers wanted to counter the relative dryness of with some “shocks” that end up coming across as a bit of filler.  But: a very solid and intriguing lead-in, plus an incredibly strong performance by Elaine Cassidy as ex-lawyer, now single mum Sarah Manning, nails the tricky balance between frenzy – the uncertainty of what to do with what she learns – the sadness and shock in regards to her changed life, and the inner strength that keeps her functioning as a human and a mother, all of which equates to a compelling and watchable lead – this, plus the final explanation actually, for once, meriting the whole to-do… this bumps Acceptable Risk out of the standard mystery / thriller range and into something fresher.  Did you make your way through that mess of a sentence?  Good.

Sarah’s second husband, Lee, works as a contract negotiator for a big, faceless pharma company.  Sarah knows his dealings aren’t all necessarily kosher – having been a respected lawyer for the company, she’d familiar with moral greys – but doesn’t know what to make of his death during his last out-of-town deal, especially when details keeps adding up: he was murdered, he carried a gun, etc.  And with the murder happening on foreign soil, while meeting a diplomat from another country, several countries’ governmental agencies start getting involved, all with mightly different agendas.  The only one who seems to shoot straight with Sarah is detective Emer, an officer with the local Irish Garde.

…And plug in to the formula as above.  But – setting aside those mentioned nigh-jump-the-shark shock elements in episode 4 and 5 – the series’ rather somber approach to nudging Sarah’s and Emer’s investigation forward is gripping because of its relative believability, and fairness with the pace at which it doles out info.

The visuals are an assist: direction is precise but not cold, able to deal with business talk and family scenes with appropriate emotionality, and the lighting manages a similar balance.  The music is also quite fantastic, the opening / closing theme bringing just the right note of gravitas to set your attention levels desirably.

Insert pun here about the acceptable risk of investing your time in this series.