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Title- Vigil
Creators- Tom Edge
Cast- Suranne Jones, Rose Leslie, Shaun Evans, Paterson Joseph and Martin Compston plus ensemble cast
Genre- crime drama, political, British
Length- 6 episodes
Platform- BBC iPlayer
Rating- 3/5 stars
Plot
Detective Chief Inspector Amy Silva of the Scottish Police Service (the fictionalised Police Scotland) is sent to HMS Vigil, a fictional Vanguard class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine, to investigate a death on board, which takes place shortly after the mysterious disappearance of a Scottish fishing trawler. Her investigations, and those of her colleagues ashore, bring the police into conflict with the Royal Navy and MI5, the British Security Service.
Taken from Vigil's Wikipedia page
Opinions
I love a good procedural crime show. I love trying to figure it out and being wrong. I haven't seen Line of Duty, which is a show from part of the creative team behind this, so I can't comment on that. It's on my to watch list. I thought the show had a strong premise. A murder on a submarine? Limited suspect pool in a very confined space. It sounded really interesting. We ended up binging it in the space of a week, watching the final episode live.
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I'll start with some positives. I thought that there was a very strong cast of characters. I liked that it kept you guessing and that in each episode, you were convinced it was someone else who had committed the crime. At the end of each episode, we would try and guess who had done it, and right up until the big reveal, we were wrong. It was nice that it wasn't obvious. I thought Suranne Jones and Rose Leslie made excellent leads. Suranne Jones, from Gentleman Jack and Doctor Who, is a great actor and really pulled off the tortured detective in a different way to normal. Rose Leslie, who I've only seen in Game of Thrones, was just as compelling. The two made a great pair, especially when you add the romantic relationship between the characters. Mark Prentice, played by Adam James, had some incredibly strong character development in only 6 episodes. I thought the cast was very good and that the characters were well developed.
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Let's talk about the actual plot. As I said, the premise was very strong. I really enjoyed the first two episodes were it was about who could have done the murder and getting to know the characters. I lost interest as the political elements were introduced. It felt like there were too many threads to pull on. At one moment, it was the Russians and then it was the Americans. I feel we never truly learnt who was responsible for the sinking of the fishing trawler. I personally would have found it more compelling if someone on board the submarine had a reason to kill Burke, rather than going down this political route. It was surprising when it was revealed that Burke's replacement was the killer and Russian spy. What frustrated me to no end is that we never learnt his motives for joining the Russians. It was something I would have liked to have explored. It just felt a bit rushed.
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Finally, I want to talk about the relationship between Amy and Kirsten. Poor Amy had been through a lot. The car crash that killed her boyfriend just as they agreed to get married. Having their daughter, who wasn't her biological child, taken away by the child's grandparents. Then the breakdown of her new relationship with Kirsten. At times I felt like Kirsten was being unfair to Amy. She was clearly still traumatised from what had happened and needed some time to figure out who she was, but Kirsten was pushing her into coming out. I can understand why Kirsten wouldn't have wanted to hide, but this side of her made her unlikeable. However, the fact that by the end, they were both alive and ready to commit makes a change from how we normally see LGBT relationships in the media. Usually they end in heartbreak or worse, death. It did make a nice change to see a happy, LGBT relationship.
I think leaving it as as miniseries would be the best thing to do. If they were to come back for a second series, it would be dragging it out. A mixed bag, but well worth watching.
What did you think of Vigil??
