Payback (2023)

The six-part British Payback comes from the ITV factory. Jed Mercurio (Line of Duty, Bodyguard) is involved as executive producer. We do not know exactly how big Mercurio's role was. The series centers on Lexie Noble (Morven Christie - The Bay, Grantchester) who sees her husband murdered. Lexie not only has two police teams, working completely at odds with each other, after her, but also the catering mafia of Edinburgh. Nearly 30 million has also disappeared with her husband, and Cal Morris (Peter Mullan - Ozark) would like to get it back. Morris is a man 'you don't say no to'.
This Scottish thriller has its moments, including a few nice plot twists. However, it lacks originality, tension and credibility. Payback is comparable to the Irish-British Kin, but lacks inspiration and class. And that's what we had hoped for with Mercurio on board.

Translated from Dutch · View original

This is one of those series where I can easily forgive the implausibilities (in fact, I didn't even pay attention to them).
Mullan (Quarry!) is a class act and Morven Christie (completely unknown to me as far as I know) and the rest of the cast (e.g. Derek Riddell and Prasanna Puwanarajah) do an excellent job.
The story was captivating and then there is the beautiful Edinburgh as a backdrop.
Tension? I'm used to too much, I'm afraid, but quite okay.
Inspiration? As for the cast, direction and all: more than adequate.

And that immediately becomes the number: a big seven.

Translated from Dutch · View original