Cracker - Series 2

Rating:
Summary: Marriage, Life, and Whiskey - all on the rocks.
Review: File "Cracker" series two under that rare category of "Great Television Seasons of All-Time."

The second season of Cracker picks up a short while after the events of series one. On the personal front, Fitz and his wife are still coping with their marriage issues while at the same time he deals with a rather put-out Jane Penhaligon and the affair that wasn't. On the professional front, the gambling debts weigh a little heavier as Fitz finds his police work curbed courtesy of a standing grudge between himself and DCI Bilborough over their last case together.

Into these lives come three extraordinary stories and a cast of characters that will irreversibly change the course of events in Fitz's world. The first story, "To Be A Somebody", is considered the strongest of all three seasons. It features a tour de force performance by Robert Carlyle of "Trainspotting" fame in a teleplay that discourses vitriolically on themes of immigration, family, and class warfare. The second story, "The Big Crunch", features Jim Carter (Brassed Off) and Samantha Morton (Minority Report) in a melancholy tale of greys in the decidedly black and white world of organized religion. The final story of the season, "Men Should Weep" offers no denouement and no respite, a powerful and personal story that will leave you waiting breathlessly for the release of series three.

Through all the tales of crime and punishment, the story of Fitz and his life is interweaved. The beauty of the show, indeed its greatest strength, is in how seemlessly that story is told and how it manages to compliment the overarching plot of each episode. "Cracker" is as good as television gets, and season two is the very best of a great series.

Rating:
Summary: Marriage, Life, and Whiskey - all on the rocks.
Review: File "Cracker" series two under that rare category of "Great Television Seasons of All-Time."

The second season of Cracker picks up a short while after the events of series one. On the personal front, Fitz and his wife are still coping with their marriage issues while at the same time he deals with a rather put-out Jane Penhaligon and the affair that wasn't. On the professional front, the gambling debts weigh a little heavier as Fitz finds his police work curbed courtesy of a standing grudge between himself and DCI Bilborough over their last case together.

Into these lives come three extraordinary stories and a cast of characters that will irreversibly change the course of events in Fitz's world. The first story, "To Be A Somebody", is considered the strongest of all three seasons. It features a tour de force performance by Robert Carlyle of "Trainspotting" fame in a teleplay that discourses vitriolically on themes of immigration, family, and class warfare. The second story, "The Big Crunch", features Jim Carter (Brassed Off) and Samantha Morton (Minority Report) in a melancholy tale of greys in the decidedly black and white world of organized religion. The final story of the season, "Men Should Weep" offers no denouement and no respite, a powerful and personal story that will leave you waiting breathlessly for the release of series three.

Through all the tales of crime and punishment, the story of Fitz and his life is interweaved. The beauty of the show, indeed its greatest strength, is in how seemlessly that story is told and how it manages to compliment the overarching plot of each episode. "Cracker" is as good as television gets, and season two is the very best of a great series.