‘Inside Man’ is a derailed mess, but one with strong scenes ★★★☆☆

Let’s start by establishing that the four-part thriller series Inside Man (not to be confused with Spike Lee’s film of the same name) by author Steven Moffat is a pretty derailed mess. And is it really a thriller, or is it a black comedy, a family drama or a philosophical reflection on the evil in man? We were happy to binge the four episodes of this BBC series, but not without yelling all sorts of curses at the screen, in the ‘don’t mean it!’ genre. or ‘do you believe it yourself?’

Moffat is the man working for the BBC Doctor Who and Sherlock Holmes breathed new life into the career of Benedict Cumberbatch, who played Holmes. The find in the series Sherlock (thirteen episodes between 2010 and 2017) to situate some of Holmes’ classic adventures in today’s London turned out to be a golden idea. And the fine combination of the criminal puzzling and the absurdist plots was perfect for Moffat and Cumberbatch.

The death row inmate Jefferson Grieff (the ever strong Stanley Tucci), who in Inside Man on death row in an American prison, waiting for his sentence to be served, has similarities with Sherlock. We learn that he gruesomely murdered his wife, but before that had a career as a brilliant criminologist with a hawkish eye and a sense of logic reminiscent of our Baker Street detective. In the role of Grieff we also find echoes of Hannibal Lecter, as played Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs, a monster with an exquisite taste and a high IQ. While Grieff is still on Earth, he is consulted on unsolvable matters, demonstrating the ability to see what others lack.

And then there’s that second line, which takes us to the English countryside, where the beloved preacher Harry (David Tennant) already in episode 1 sets in motion a series of ultimately catastrophic events with a well-intentioned intervention. You can sense that Moffat is putting together a kind of puzzle here, asking himself at what point you can morally compare the village chaplain to the American murderer. It ties in with Grieff’s philosophy. We paraphrase: there are moments that can make us all killers, if you just meet the right person on the wrong day.

Let’s say that Inside Man takes a very heavy toll on our ability to put our sense of logic aside in a story (also known as suspension of disbelief). Particularly in the village preacher’s storyline, all the characters are constantly making the most ill-considered decisions at key moments, so that the dilemmas resemble philosophical issues where you have to choose between two completely improbable scenarios.

That doesn’t change the fact that Tucci and Tennant are always fun to watch, and that Moffat can write strong scenes. At the end, several lines come together, but there are also enough loose ends that seem to announce a possible second season. If that fails to happen, the viewer will be left behind in a rickety building with no exit.