Building suspense is relatively easier when it comes to the stories of undercover agents. But if you, like me, have seen a fair share of them, to the point of obsession even, you'll know that the concept alone isn't a guarantee of success if you don't have characters worth caring about. The new Netflix series "Legends" is loaded with striking individuals, and it establishes its main characters — the 'good guys', so to speak — without spending too much time in the beginning for this purpose. It finds a way to make us care about them through short narrative 'intervals' between hair-raising mission responsibilities, to give us a better understanding of who these characters are, why they are doing what they do, and what's at stake.
Created by Neil Forsyth, the series is inspired by true events and missions set against the 1990s backdrop of Margaret Thatcher's drug war. The show presents the catalyst and the formation of the small secret team similar to Steven Spielberg's "Munich", except that the leader, Don, played with the right measure of sophistication, caution and world weariness by Steve Coogan, doesn't get to have a meeting with the former Prime Minister.
The directive comes from his superiors, who keep passing their burgeoning pressures on to Don and, through him, his team. But Don is a sensible, practical man who doesn't like wasting time, who sometimes puts his team members in extremely perilous situations with the confident awareness that they'll ace them. Coogan plays him as a man who was once an undercover agent himself; he knows the pain, torment and sacrifices that are required for this sort of assignment, and ensures that his juniors also know what they are getting into.
As for the team, it's a colourful bunch of characters comprising Tom Burke as Guy (based on Guy Stanton, a real customs officer who later wrote a book about his undercover adventures), Hayley Squires as Kate, Aml Ameen as Bailey, and Jasmine Blackborow as Erin. Each one of them has a distinct personality, and all are fleshed out in such a way that you become so invested in their lives. You see, if this isn't done properly, there's no point in doing an undercover movie or show. If you're not caring deeply about or recognising relatable qualities, why bother? And if we go deeper, we realise there's a film-within-a-film quality to it when these agents create fictitious roles and narratives — the 'legends' in the title — to play make-believe in front of the many unsavoury characters they encounter.
Thankfully, Forsyth and the directing team behind "Legends" rise to the challenge, navigating complex scenarios involving drug lords of different nationalities, unexpected and unpredictable informants, volatile criminal figures from the country and abroad, betrayals, and rescue operations that put everyone on edge. The gangsters are all perfectly cast, too, especially Tom Hughes (as egoistic drug kingpin Declan Carter) and Johnny Harris (as his conflicted right-hand man Eddie).
What makes all this even better is the extraordinary contributions from the camera and art departments, who more than succeed in evoking the aesthetic and atmosphere of not just a 1990s crime thriller, but also those from the 1970s to the 1980s. I cannot say for sure if the whole thing was actually shot on film or whether they managed a convincing recreation of it on digital. Because all the moody lighting, vibrant colours, evocative atmosphere, lens flares, the subtle grain-like texture, the immaculately designed sets and brilliantly co-ordinated costumes — not to mention the vehicles and location choices — achieve a kind of rare harmony we have only seen in some of the best, most immersive titles in crime cinema and television.
In terms of grittiness and transportive quality, ideal comparisons would be the two William Friedkin classics "The French Connection" and "To Live and Die in L. A"; the Michael Caine film "Get Carter" (Tom Burke's cockney-flavoured dialogues make him a fitting successor), Sidney Lumet's "Prince of the City", Steven Soderbergh's "Traffic", Martin Scorsese's "The Departed", and the acclaimed HBO show "The Wire". In fact, I would go so far as to say that this show would make a great companion piece to "The Wire" — or let's say, a faster-paced alternative.
Series: Legends
Creator: Neil Forsyth
Cast: Steve Coogan, Tom Burke, Hayley Squires, Aml Ameen, Jasmine Blackborow, Douglas Hodge, Tom Hughes, Johnny Harris, Gerald Kyd, Numan Acar, Joshua Samuels, Kem Hassan, Charlotte Ritchie
Rating: 5/5
