Roush Review: Martin Freeman Returns as a Conflicted ‘Responder’

The Responder

Matt's Rating:

Martin Freeman‘s brilliant career encompasses comedy (the original U.K. The Office), drama (Watson to Benedict Cumberbatch‘s Sherlock, the first season of Fargo opposite Billy Bob Thornton), and epic fantasy (The Hobbit trilogy). But few roles in his impressive catalogue have been as unsparingly realistic and raw as that of The Responder‘s Chris Carson, the conflicted and emotionally exhausted police officer working the soul-crushing night shift in gritty Liverpool.

He won an International Emmy for The Responder‘s first season, and Season 2 (with two episodes premiering weekly) plunges Carson even deeper into perilous rabbit holes of deception and frustration. Chris, demoted from his former rank of Inspector, has one goal this season: to land a day job on the force that would keep him closer to his estranged wife (MyAnna Buring), who threatens to move to London with their adorable daughter (Romi Hyland-Rylands), whose first communion is approaching. But his complicated dealings with shady cops and local drug dealers create all manner of suspenseful setbacks.

It’s one fine mess after another for Chris and his sometimes partner Rachel (Adelayo Adedayo providing excellent support), who’s dealing with her own issues of trauma from an abusive relationship. (Probably not the best idea for her to be stalking her rotten ex’s new girlfriend, even with the intent of protecting her.) Their dark nights of the soul on patrol, reminiscent of the hellscapes of Taxi Driver, are laced with pathos and bleak humor. Try as they might, they can’t shake their fraught night-owl association with the reckless junkie Casey (Emily Fairn) and her forlorn friend Marco (Josh Finan), who’s appallingly left in care of his infant daughter.

There are flashes of poignance and even occasional good police work when Chris is allowed to do his real job in between the dirty jobs he keeps being forced into performing. Strap in for a bumpy, memorably harrowing ride.

The Responder, Season 2 Premiere (two episodes), Thursday, July 11, BritBox