Bodyguard

A series that for a long time looks like an update of John le Carré's chess games, but in the end may only go down in history as a captivating audition tape by Richard Madden for the role of James Bond. On my god! The boy has it - a killer look, vulnerable charm and a special fragility. His body changes smoothly before the eyes from a powerful machine to a completely scattered trauma factory. Unfortunately, everything else in this world does not have a firm foundation. Until the fifth episode, these are slow promises, which are scattered by the sixth episode, which is overwhelmed by twists, meaningless explanations and the explicitly stupid motivations of the central conspiracy. As a political thriller, Bodyguard is, after all, not a carefully thought-out chess game, but rather stupid screenwriting work with holes in the logic. Unfortunately, the ridiculous structure devalues ambitious attempts at drama and makes it clear that the smiling clichés about the relationship between the bodyguard and his trustee were not just momentary flings. It's actually a cheap, albeit nicely filmed and modern-sounding B-movie. Too bad. but Madden is currently top on my 007 list. (2018-11-24)

Bodyguard has almost everything: an ideal number of episodes, i.e. the length of the entire series, outline with good optics the thorny issues of contemporary terrorism, corrupt government agencies, double agents and the protagonist's post-war traumas that affect his mental health. The creators deftly combine all of these key screenwriting puzzles together to create a great collage of believable realistic-within-the-possibilities political/spy thriller/drama that is fast-paced, unpredictable and dense with plot. Compared to the US version of Bodyguard, this one feels like it's on steroids, including the love story. Give 007 to Madden! (2021-11-07)

I can't remember the last time I saw such a thrilling series. What a ride! Especially when I realized that I had no idea who was behind everything until the last few minutes. Some situations were hard to believe, but I will forgive the creators for that. The bottom line is that I was not bored at all. Richard Madden definitely deserves high praise for his outstanding portrayal of the titular role. (85%) (2021-05-23)

Jed Mercurio took a year off from his flagship series Line of Duty and created… Well, basically not admitted spin off, which “inherited" all the strong points (tangible graduating tension, ambiguous characters, understandable motivations, intense interrogation and dialogs) and the week points (a little too much coincidences, twists at all costs, slightly excessive conspiracy) from the Line of Duty. As long as he sticks to the characters who, during their inevitable journey to hell, try to put out the consequences of their actions, it's great. As soon as he moves away from the individuals to a high backstage game full of intrigue, it gets worse and it's almost like the new Dan Brown. Which is again the fact that the same goes for, wait for it, Line of Duty. (2018-10-01)

It’s true that the whole premise of Bodyguard is pushed to the point of absurdity—situations so unlikely that even the most incompetent bodyguard in the entire British division wouldn’t let them happen. But once you accept that, you can appreciate the show for what it is. It’s undeniably dynamic, with strong action, solid tension, and a pace that makes you want to binge-watch the entire series. Richard Madden plays a seemingly emotionless character who’s actually holding back more than you’d expect, and I have to admit, it was pretty fascinating to watch him navigate through those six episodes. (2021-05-25)