The Day of the Jackal Season 1 Review – A high-octane thriller with one big flaw

Season 1

Episode Guide

Episode 1 -| Review Score – 4/5
Episode 2 -| Review Score – 3.5/5
Episode 3 -| Review Score – 3.5/5
Episode 4 -| Review Score – 4.5/5
Episode 5 -| Review Score – 4/5
Episode 6 -| Review Score – 3/5
Episode 7 -| Review Score – 3.5/5
Episode 8 -| Review Score – 3.5/5
Episode 9 -| Review Score – 3.5/5
Episode 10 -| Review Score – 4.5/5

 

The Day of the Jackal is a high-octane thrill ride, based on the riveting political thriller novel by English author Frederick Forsyth. The show has been reimagined for a modern audience and while that statement is sometimes a red flag, I’ll let you be the judge of that after watching the show and going through this review.

For those unaware of the story, there’s also a 1973 film adaptation too, which still holds up as a great thriller, and Sky have tried to capture the essence of the story while also mixing things up too. The outcome? A bit of a mixed bag if I’m honest. It’s clear that the intention here is to try and answer the question of how an assassin can remain anonymous in an age of digital cameras and surveillance the world over, and in that respect it definitely works.

That question is answered through the exploits of The Jackal, an elusive assassin who makes his living carrying out hits for the highest fee. He’s ruthless, dangerous and surprisingly human too. All of these qualities make for a morally grey character who evolves quite a bit across the 10 episodes in this show.

Released in two batches of 5 episodes in the UK (and all in one hit in the US on 14th November), The Day of the Jackal is very much a tale of two halves. And a lot of that stems from Jackal’s foe through much of this series, British intelligence officer Bianca. She’s arrogant, smart, uncompassionate and steamrolls her way through conversations. Yep, she’s a typical girlboss and not exactly a great introduction to a person we want to root for across the show.

However, this steely façade slowly chips away the longer you get through the show and from around episode 4 or 5 onwards, we do see a lot more of her vulnerability, which is where the show starts to really come into its own and yes, stick with this one guys because it starts to ramp up toward the end of the show.

The series hits the ground running though with a thrilling opening sequence to start things off. With tracking shots and a tense atmosphere, we see the Jackal at work, understanding his mindset and meticulousness with his job. All of this is done with little dialogue.

This doesn’t last though and what’s particularly intriguing here is the way the Jackal has been constructed. This time around, he has a family and those whom he cares about. He struggles to balance his work and family life, and it runs in parallel to Bianca’s journey. She too has trouble with her work/life balance. She doesn’t get on particularly well with her husband Paul, and her relationship with daughter Jasmine is equally strained because of her line of work.

For both characters, the final 5 episodes or so start to see those lines blurred, as work and family merge together into a messy cataclysm that features some really tense sequences. There’s a moment late on in episode 7 during a concert hall incident  that’s absolutely nail-biting stuff and you’ll be on the edge of your seat to find out what happens.

Similarly, there’s a thrilling car chase in episode 10 that goes on for a while, all of which culminating in a stand-off that’s been brewing for the entirety of the season. Again, no spoilers here but it’s definitely a fitting conclusion to this one.

The show also dives into Jackal’s history, understanding his motives and what led him on this path to become a professional assassin. It’s quite interesting to see this, and through the show we slowly see him lose the humanity he began with on a character journey that’s surprisingly empathetic. There’s definitely no sugar-coating that he’s a bad guy, but similarly he’ll do things like setting off a fire alarm to clear a building before blowing it up, or sparing the lives of those who help him out. As long as they don’t get in the way of course.

Comparatively speaking, we don’t actually see too much about Bianca’s homelife. We learn at one point that her mum is an alcoholic but we never see her, nor do we see any flashbacks to Bianca’s backstory to understand how she grew into becoming this intelligence agent. We don’t get much context around her relationship with Paul, nor do we see an explanation surrounding why he’s off living with his ex-wife at one point. 

Instead, this feels like fodder to flesh out Bianca’s character, who is just immediately great at her job, and doesn’t take any consequences for her actions until late on, given she has some serious blood on her hands. It takes a while but we do eventually see some vulnerability creep into her persona, along with big character flaws. I just wish we’d seen them sooner and with a character that’s more intelligent and empathetic than the one we get here. When your villain is more compassionate than your protagonist, you definitely have a problem.

Given the lengths this show takes to dive into Jackal’s backstory, it would have been nice to have the same thing for Bianca. Maybe show her coming from a broken home; she’s needed to be arrogant and self-sufficient as she’s the breadwinner in the house. Or maybe she was beaten and had to talk and act her way out of trouble, explaining her short temper and abrasiveness. Whatever the backstory it doesn’t matter because we don’t really get that.

However, there’s a weird subplot involving an old “friend” called Vince that almost looks like it’s going the romantic route but they never pull the trigger on that. I’m not sure if the writers realized an infidelity angle would tip the scales and make us root more for Jackal than her, but it’s an interesting point to note.

The show lives and dies by its thrilling cat-and-mouse chase across Europe though, and in that respect, The Day of the Jackal is undoubtedly an adrenaline soaked romp. It does play hard and fast with logic at times, including airport scanners failing to pick up components for a sniper rifle or the smell of gunpowder pretty much non-existent (not to mention no forensics, ballistics or DNA samples to speak of!) but if you can overlook that and just get swept up in the popcorn-munching thrill of it all, you’re bound to find a lot to like here.

The visuals are great too and you can tell that the creators shot on location. These range from the beautiful Croatia to the heart of Paris. There’s also gloomy London too, and a shoutout for capturing the dull, grey tone there, which is pretty much a staple in the capital nowadays.

The camera work is smooth and there are some sharp edits in here that definitely give this a glossy feel. However, the big standout comes from the soundtrack. There are some really solid tracks in here, ranging from the trailer music of ‘Everything In Its Right Place’ by Radiohead, across to a surprisingly solid rendition of ‘Wicked Game’ by Wolf Alice. No song feels out of place, and it all fits within the confines of a moody, espionage thriller.

The middle set of episodes do tend to sag a bit and those looking for maximum realism aren’t likely to find that here. However, this is definitely a show that gets better the longer it goes on. Bianca in particular becomes a better character toward the end, or at least tolerable compared to her insufferable behaviour early on, while episode 8 dives into Jackal’s backstory in a set of flashbacks that completely recontextualize his journey until this point. 

As for the performances, Eddie Redmayne is the absolute star of the show. He chews up the scenery and as a master of disguise, you’ll barely recognize him in some of the disguises he picks. Lashana Lynch is fine in her role as Bianca, but she basically rehashes her role as Nomi from No Time to Die. She does have a few teary moments and a couple of decent performances that stretch her range but nowhere near the level Redmayne manages.

At one point Redmayne plays an old man in a wheelchair, and another he’s a posh English chess enthusiast passing seamlessly through border patrol. If there’s one thing the show captures perfectly, it’s the idea that this slippery customer is a master of disguise.

While some are calling The Day of the Jackal the best thriller of the year, I’m loathe to use the same hyperbolic language. It’s a fun ride, no doubt, but it’s also a series hindered by its main character. There are a couple of subplots that feel like busywork, and a few eyerolling segments too, but if you can overlook that, this is a decent little binge all the same.

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