User Reviews

Great ending to a great show. The British really know how to up the ante. I vaguely thought that that one character was a villain all along but, as that character explained, it was so easy to believe that they were innocent based on their outer appearance that I let my suspicions go very quickly. Needless to say that I wasn't expecting that big reveal in the interrogation room AT ALL. Madden is a superb actor and everyone who was a part of this really helped make a masterpiece of a miniseries.

I don't know what my fellow reviewers have been watching, but the ninety minute episode that concluded this series off, was I thought incredible. An episode that has broken all records, with an enormous audience, and no wonder, there is no way on Earth people would have watched in such high numbers if this wasn't top class viewing.

More tension then anything I've seen since probably Line of Duty Series three, I thought it was scintillating viewing. Richard Madden has been fantastic throughout, he peaks in this episode for me, delivering a truly powerhouse performance, Gina McKee was terrific also. It's been full of surprises the whole way through, that trend definitely continued here, so much going on.

The filming was incredible, I loved the location work, have it a big production feel. Jed Mercurio may not be John le Carre, but he isn't half writing some incredible stuff. He always manages to deliver the most unexpected twists, I must have imagined every possible outcome, bar the actual one, incredibly written and delivered.

Explosive drama. 10/10

This show was one of a couple of high profile BBC productions that got a lot of publicity and success, and that I had to catch-up on after the fact. The plot is reminiscent of Fox's 24 in the way it places its ordinary agent at the core of something bigger, and then proceeds to cast doubt here there and everywhere, so the viewer is not sure what is coming next. Like 24 it also does set-pieces very well, producing moments of genuine tension paced well throughout the episodes. It has yet another connection to 24 in the way that it doesn't always connect to reality, but yet it drives itself forward convinced of its own logic.

This makes it engaging rather than pulpy, dramatic rather than cliched, and slick rather than silly. The short run helps it too, as it is well paced and doesn't have to engineer too many twists and turns to fill out the time. Performances are decent, with plenty of faces familiar, and the production itself has high standards - with good use of London locations in particular. The conclusion is a bit too tidy and abrupt, but otherwise it builds well throughout the short series. It isn't the brilliant drama that you've heard of, but it is entertaining, slick, pulpy, and enjoyable for what it does. It carries a serious tone, but only because it sold itself, it doesn't need you to be.

Those that are rating this so low seem to be fixated on the person who ends up as the second culprit. I thought that it was as good as anyone they could have developed as a villain. For me, the whole process of keeping up suspense as efforts are made to disarm the bomb and keep from being shot, a dozen rifles pointed at him. Even though we pretty much know the outcome, there is still tension as he works every wire, every step, to survive. I've always been a sucker for movies about disarming bombs. The Hurt Locker, for instance, is a masterpiece of the genre. Once again, I'm glad I took a chance at this show. The characters are flawed, including David, but that's what makes it work.

In some ways the final episode takes you back to where it all began.

Back to a bomb vest but this time it is on David Budd. So he was set up to be a patsy all along.

Maybe a lot of viewers felt wrong footed, yet writer Jed Mercurio still delivered tension in an over the top melodramatic manner.

I liked the way that a lot of dangling loose ends seemed to be wrapped up. A ratings bonanza for the BBC.

I can hope that a lot of new serials will now get out from the blocks with a bang rather than turgidly build up atmosphere and character that soon puts the audience to sleep.

That went from gritty to gash pretty fast.

5 episodes of one of the most genuinely gripping and unpredictable shows that the BBC have churned out for a while.

Then they seem to have hired a group of 12 year olds to tie off all the loose ends. It was JUST about better than him waking up and it all being a dream.

Never thought I'd be sitting there praying for a car bomb to go off. That's the worst bit. It's made me someone I don't like anymore.

Cheers

There are a lot of things that feel timely in the U.K. series (distributed by Netflix) "Bodyguard". From differences in political opinions to post-traumatic stress disorder and how to best deal with the continued threat of terrorism, this is a show that has plenty of material to mine. While it does get into some very "good stuff" content-wise, it also makes enough odd and perplexing decisions to prevent it from being truly great.

For a basic plot summary, "Bodyguard" tells the story of David Budd (Richard Madden), an ex-military officer now assigned as the personal protector of Britain's Home Secretary Julia Montague (Keeley Hawes). While Budd seems to be the ultimate professional, he's also going through marital problems with ex-wife Vicky (Sophie Rundle) and suffering from PTSD from time in Afghanistan. Topping it all off is a relationship with fellow war-buddy Andy (Tom Brooke), a visibly-scarred vet who is disgusted that Budd could stomach working with a political regime that believes in the cause that so injured their minds and bodies. When the Home Secretary proposes a piece of legislature that gives Security Services more freedoms than ever before, some assassination plots ensue and Budd must make some hard choices (both personally and professionally) on how to treat his conscience versus his professionalism.

The way I look at "Bodyguard" after its first season is thusly: The first episode is great, the last episode (#6) is great, and the four in between are very up-and-down. As I mentioned, there's no doubt that this show hits on some very emotional and practical issues present in todays political landscape. First and foremost, how can one dutifully protect a person who he feels is wrong in nearly ever political aspect conceivable? And then, minor spoiler alert here, what happens when an emotional relationship creeps into the picture. Combine this with some great action scenes and those tremendous bookend episodes, and "Bodyguard" does a lot right in its freshman effort.

The problem dragging this season down, though, is that the show just seems to make a lot of head-scratching plot and character decisions. I'm not sure if this was intended to be the case or not, but it seems as if just when a certain plot thread or character gets really interesting, they dispose of it and move on to something else. Thus, the effect I had watching this show was akin to that of a roller-coaster: upon reaching its greatest heights, it would immediately plummet down to earth in order to build the momentum necessary to crest the next hill. I wish the journey to the ultimate climax would have been a bit more of a straight arrow. While there were times I has 100% connected to the events, there were other times I was somewhat bored or lost as to what exactly was trying to be conveyed. Not helping matters in this regard was a decidedly too-large cast of players, many of which get lost in the fury of names and titles. A lot of the fat could have been trimmed away to produce a tighter story with less confusion.

Overall, though, "Bodyguard" did make at least somewhat of a positive impact on me, and I would easily jump back into a second season if one is ever planned. Despite some odd decisions, the show did enough to stimulate my creative/dramatic interests and I'd love to see some of these characters deal with whatever comes next in their celluloid lives.

Louise was written a bad part and it completely drew away from the ending. The Deepak character wasn't much better. Overall the show was pretty solid with just some directions that could have been better.

To borrow the words of the previous reviewer, that went from gritty to gash very fast.

This show had the guts to kill main characters and the skill to keep you on the edge of your seat, but throws that away with an anaemic ending. I was expecting the gut punch of a shocking death, of a twist, of a conclusion from left field that I didn't expect and that would be fitting of the episodes that came before. Unfortunately it seems that the writers couldn't muster that.

Bodyguard is still a quality series, it's just a shame that they couldn't stick to their guns for the conclusion. I was also waiting for a car bomb to take my breath away, what I got was the credits rolling and a distinct feeling that there could have been more.

Good first 5,5 episode, great acting, lots of tension and then... What kind of an unlogical plottwist was that? It was just a plottwist that no-one predicted for the sake of having a plottwist that no-one predicted. But no-one predicted it, because it just doesn't make any sense.

It's hard to believe that this episode was written by the same person as the previous episodes.

After the first episode, I was happily surprised, as this show was actually pretty good. I wouldn't just say this one ruined the series, but it definitely left me with a very sour aftertaste, as the ending could've been so much better.