3 out of 5

Created by: Oliver Lansley

Anna Paquin rocks.  I kind of checked out on her early career, with my haughty “hate everything that people like” opinions confused on what my hot take should be regarding a child prodigy actress, but when she started popping up in the X-Men movies, I gained an appreciation for what seemed to be the actress’ selective film choices, often steered toward more genre-type stuff.  That she was eventually in Trick r’ Treat solidified my approval (which, I’m sure, was of massive importance to her), and though I don’t know if I’ll ever have the desire to actually watch True Blood from start to finish, whenever I was subjected to episodes, I would marvel at how well she navigated the mix of high and low art; she was fun to watch, even whilst the show came across as trashy.  (In lesser-intended ways.)

And that sort of carries over to Flack: an over-the-top TV attempt at maligning celebrity-obsessed culture via an inside look at a PR firm at which Robyn – Paquin – works.  In an era resplendent with horrid ‘reveals’ about our celebs secret lives every other day, there’s a possibility for something like this to dig fairly deep, and, at points, it tries: it’s a female led cast, providing the leads with very open takes on their drugged, drinked, and sexed lifestyles, and then broaches the nightmare of ‘handling’ despicable people who cheat and abuse their way through their careers.  Occasionally, the show will pause – Robyn will take a breath – and attempt to absorb the madness of it all: the way we bend over backwards to justify these behaviors, and then the way the media will ‘spin’ it, absolutely not believing the justifications but latching on to the headline nature of it all the same.  And Robyn is trapped in this cycle, conflicted over the allure of an always-on world and the reality of her settle-down-with-kids husband homelife; fending off disapproving looks from settled-down-with-kids sister Ruth (Genevieve Angelson) whilst she, also, confuzzles things with longing sighs regarding Robyn’s more whimsical lifestyle.  All of that stuff is there, fantastically emoted (or not, as Robyn as stonefaced throughout the most outlandish confessions) by Paquin.

…But then Flack is also reveling in its own shock tactics: the PR firm is staffed by stock, one-dimensional jokes: the crass Eve (Lydia Wilson); doughty intern Melody (Rebecca Benson); brittle boss Caroline (Sophie Okonedo), and each episode’s PR disaster-of-the-day feels written to go for the throat and scream THIS IS TIMELY AND MODERN at us.  Not that it needed subtlety, exactly, but The Good Fight is a current, prime example of offering in-yer-face reality parallels while also allowing room to dig in to the emotional and social complexities of dealing with it and the people dealing with it; Flack isn’t patient or smart enough for that, more willing to cut a dramatic moment for a ‘shocking’ cut to a bump of cocaine or something.

It’s interesting, and I do hope to see it take a few more of those breaths in future seasons.  But I also think that without Paquin steering her character via a layered performance, it might seem a lot more shallow.