I devoured the first three seasons in two days. The scripts are intelligent, intense, and simultaneously wonderfully and appallingly cynical about corruption within police departments and other phases of law enforcement. The dialog is brilliantly written, making long interrogation scenes bristle with tension, never seeming overly talky. The series is ideal for binge watching, since seeing each season of episodes back-to-back helps keep the complicated plotlines sorted.
After viewing the first season, I checked IMDb's listing of the show's awards and nominations, and was shocked that Lennie James only got one minor nomination, with no wins, for his outstanding performance. The role he played called for all the tools in a large talent box, juggling the good, bad and ugly of his character, and the wide gamut of emotions evoked by his rapidly-changing circumstances. Admittedly, I haven't seen all the other honored dramatic performances of that year, but it's hard to imagine his star could shine so brightly in such a high-quality series and be so egregiously overlooked by so many industry groups.
After viewing the first season, I checked IMDb's listing of the show's awards and nominations, and was shocked that Lennie James only got one minor nomination, with no wins, for his outstanding performance. The role he played called for all the tools in a large talent box, juggling the good, bad and ugly of his character, and the wide gamut of emotions evoked by his rapidly-changing circumstances. Admittedly, I haven't seen all the other honored dramatic performances of that year, but it's hard to imagine his star could shine so brightly in such a high-quality series and be so egregiously overlooked by so many industry groups.