93beats of an investigation, viewers have
to care about the hero. And that’s
tough when his inner life is given
minimal attention.
IT STANDS TO REASON, then, that
the most promising of the three titles
is The Outlaws, a joint BBC/Ama-
zon project coming to Prime Video
on April 1 that thrives on its idio-
syncratic characters. The show is a
spiritual successor to Orange Is the
New Black and The Breakfast Club, in
that it throws together people who
have nothing in common but their
shared punishment—and it’s refresh-
ingly self-aware about that. “Every-
one’s a type,” teen shoplifter and self-
described “studious Asian good girl”
Rani (Rhianne Barreto) points out in
the premiere. “You’ve got your right-
wing blowhard, left-wing militant,
celebutante, shifty old-timer.” (The
latter, fresh out of prison and eager to
make amends with his rightly resent-
ful daughter, is played by a surpris-
ingly subdued Christopher Walken.)
Rani’s “bad boy” love interest and a
nerdy loner round out the crew.
Slowly, in Orange-style lashbacks,
everyone’s story comes out. And even
as it pushes forward the plot with
genre standbys like gangsters and bags
of cash, the show fosters unexpected
bonds that stretch the characters’ un-
derstanding of themselves and one an-
other. This can be hokey, but mostly
it’s humane, merging the experiences
of people from diferent backgrounds
without thoughtlessly equating them.
As far as I’m concerned—even now
that franchises reign and episodic
budgets can stretch into the tens of
millions—it’s always the characters
that separate a competently made
show from one that’s actually worth
watching. And that applies to crime
just as much as it does to any other
genre. What would The Sopranos be
without Tony, or The Wire without
Omar? It’s easy to draw in viewers with
grit and suspense, or with a premise
purpose- built to dramatize contem-
porary political divisions. More dii-
cult, but increasingly crucial as crime
shows multiply, is crafting characters
and performances with enough depth
to keep us coming back.
QUICK TALK