The Day of the Jackal (series): This one looks like it has a lot of promise

After finishing Succession I was at a loss as to what I should delve into next. I had heard from friends of mine that "Jackal" was something they loved and after watching just one episode I think that I might get on board that gravy train at some point even though as it stands now I am kind of just like "it's ok" as far as how much I like it.

This is normal for me though because after a finish a series that I absolutely love, it is easy for me to find fault in anything that comes after.

Before I even started watching this I was wondering if it was going to have any similarities to the Bruce Willis film called The Jackal and sure enough, the new series does seem to be influenced a great deal by that film. The main similarity is that one of the main characters, simply referred to as "The Jackal" (played by Eddie Redmayne) is an elite contract killer that has amazing abilities to get into a situation and get out without being detected.

The detective that is pursuing him has no idea who they are in fact pursuing, and she is basing most of her information on hunches and her extreme depth of knowledge about firearms. Bianca Pullman works for MI6 and just by happenstance she kind of forces her way into being involved in the case although her coworkers and boss didn't really want her involved in it. It was considered not a British problem until she brought to her attention the fact that it may actually be one of their own citizens that is in fact the Jackal.

I think this series can and will appeal to a lot of people because even if you don't like action films and series, that is not really what this is. For me personally, I do enjoy having some sort of view into what the life of a hitman or contract killer might be like and a vast majority of what they do is time spent on planning meticulously and also having a huge amount of patience for how they are going to get to their mark. In this series they don't over-glorify killing, but instead show that it requires a very special kind of sociopath who is meticulous and extremely patient, as well as very good at covering their tracks.

Bianca is the only reason why they even have a lead, and it takes a while for them to even have any idea which direction to look in. To me, a lot of this seems very practical seeing as how not every killer just leaves shell casings, fingerprints, or their passport behind when they kill someone.

Should I watch it?

I am only an episode and a half into this one and I feel as though this series is going to take a lot of unexpected turns. There are side-missions, so to speak but thus far none of them seem to be pointless time wasting events. I could do without the family issues that take up a bunch of time but then again, I'm so early in on watching this series that these seemingly irrelevant things might become some sort of big issue later.

For me, I quite enjoy the stoic acting style of Eddie Redmayne and think that other than being a very small man, he is the perfect person for the role. I don't think we are going to see him get into a great many melee sort of encounters because if we do that will be rather unrealistic.

So for now anyway, I think that this series is one to keep an eye out for, because it is a nice mix of a lot of different styles, and the dark nature and mystery of "The Jackal" on its own is reason enough to keep me interested. Since my friends are waiting with baited breath for the release of the season finale, I think there must be something amazing that is going on here.