2 out of 5

Directed by: Stuart Orme

covers the ‘season 1’ films The Guards, The Pikemen, The Magdalen Martyrs, The Dramatist, Priest, and Shot Down

While there are several shows that stick to fairly rigid arc structures, the only other ‘series’ I can think of that’s been composed of films – excusing the ‘shared universe’ concept of recent past and more one-off series like The Librarian – has been the Swedish Johan Falk narrative, which, with its standoffish lead and cultural ties stands as a good comparison to Taylor.  However, whereas Falk was more successful than not by keeping things fairly low key, allowing for actual character development and encouraging a sense of familiarity for following viewers, the Taylor series – 6 TV films airing over the course of 3 years which are now being billed as a first season – hardly pushes its grizzled detective lead (Iain Glen) beyond the grizzled detective stereotype, and the plots fairly ridiculously spiral out into sensationalism that make it a bit cheeky to always involve the same ex-Garda.  The best moments of the Taylor films are those that stick closer to Earth, pounding the pavement like a good gumshoe and cobbling together mysteries – instead of giant coverups or conspiracies – from the initial seeds of a missing girl or boy.

Each special offers some pleasing moments, but generally quashes it by going overboard in some fashion.  The shorthand intro to Jack’s “don’t play by the rules” style in The Guards is a little silly but entertainingly coarse, and his grumbling investigation in that film finds comfort in one-liners and PI stereotypes and thus offers we viewers who like that kinda thing some comfort as well… until the film’s second half suddenly balloons into spectacle.  The Pikeman builds up a charming partnership for Jack (Killian Scott as Cody) but some sudden melodrama and theatrics again sort of distill that charm.  The Dramatist, being about some murders inspired by a play, is, by its premise, overwrought, and Priest takes the abusive clergy bit and runs with it.  Magdalen Martyrs does something similar with abusive nuns (ah, the Irish and their Catholicism) but actually manages to ground things by tying events more closely to Jack, reversing the formula of the other specials by starting with a big idea and then narrowing it down, and season one closer Shot Down is, on its own, an incredibly solid film about small-town family feuds and murders.  Sure, it has to go for the double and triple twist at the end, but it feels believable, as opposed to the ‘let’s turn this headline into a story’ nature of the other movies.

Now granted, these specials are based on a book series by Ken Bruen, so what seems a little bonkers and undeveloped on screen might work more effectively between covers, where readers’ imaginations can be more effectively used between the lines.  But with movies, we’re relying on the screen exclusively, so one-to-one translations often need some re-shaping that might not’ve happened here.  Having not read the books, of course, I can’t say…  Although having read another of Bruen’s books (‘Bust,’ with Jason Starr), I can see how some of the sensationalism explored here works a bit better in text as the whole world gets blown out a bit via the narrator’s descriptions.

Director Stuart Orme, handling all six films, gives the series a consistently unfiltered look, and Iain Glen chews the dialogue like a pro.  Killian Scott and Nora-Jane Noone as the Garda Kate who often helps Jack both do their jobs as foils well, and I’ll give the series credit for never ‘saving’ Jack – he’s almost always an unapologetic jerk.  My problem is more that the series wants to have it Six Ways to Sunday, referencing previous events from film to film but never really making it seem like anything has changed, except sometimes Jack drinks and sometimes he doesn’t.  His friends, his viewers “know” him from the start; there’s nothing you really learn later on that wouldn’t have fit in to the first special.  And then we want to revel in tough-guy dialogue and stereotypes, but then ditch all the detective work for somewhat predictable double-blinds and forced attempts at shock.  So more often than not I found myself watching Jack Taylor feeling like the series was forever on the cusp of turning in to what I wanted it to turn into – a gritty and grinning detective series.  And then occasionally that would peek out from under the covers, keeping me watching… only to pull the covers back tight a minute later.  And unfortunately that ‘cusp’ feeling is the dominant one.  So if a second series can tip the balance either one way or another, settle into more of an identity instead of an indecisive mish-mash of styles, I’ll definitely be hanging in there.

(…Aaand because I’m so hungry for detective shows, I’ll probably be hanging in there anyway.)