An abrasively
eccentric forensic psychologist (Coltrane) aids in the solving of
difficult police cases.
Dr. Fitzgerald, or
"Fitz" to his friends and enemies alike, is back in the third and
final series of the award-winning Cracker. A brilliant
criminal psychologist, gambler and alcoholic, Fitz is in a
constant battle with himself and society at large. He is about to
embark on a series of cases that could make or break his career,
his marriage and his life.
Disc One
Brotherly Love
-
A death in the family reunites Fitz with his estranged brother
Danny, and pulls him - fighting all the way - back into the arms
of the Catholic Church as they prepare for a funeral.
Disc Two
Best Boys -
The funeral of a corrupt police officer lifts some of the weight
off Penhaligon, but doesn't help her relationship with Fitz. At
home, Fitz is a new father with more than his share of the burden
to carry.
True Romance -
While Fitz's wife Judith finds herself drawn to his brother Danny,
Fitz finds himself the amorous target of a sensual serial killer.
Bodies are being found. Teasing letters are also turning up on
Fitz's doorstep, and the two are soon connected.
Disc Three
Lucky White Ghost
-
On a lecture tour of Hong Kong, Fitz is asked to help investigate
the murder of a wealthy Chinese businessman. The chief suspect is
Dennis Philby, a "white ghost." Fitz will have to work fast in
this foreign field if he is to corner Philby and save Philby's
wife from certain death.
CRITIQUE
Cracker is a
fantastic show. Each series (or season) consists of three stories,
but each story consists of two or three episodes at fifty minutes
each. That's basically a feature-length film, and the quality of
the program is usually better than your average film nowadays.
This is because the
writing is really good. Show creator Jimmy McGovern and writer
Paul Abbot craft intricate stories and plots throughout the entire
third series run of the show. They handle the material real well,
give us a great cast of characters, and write fantastic and
realistic dialogue. Some of the stories could be considered a bit
provocative, but Cracker is serious about its topics. The
characters are the highlight, however. Robbie Coltrane is simply
terrific as Fitz. He plays the man with great conviction and
sincerity, and for a man who is very flawed (smoker, drinker,
gambler), Coltrane manages to make him accessible to viewers. The
supporting characters are really good, too, because they each have
problems of their own that need to be dealt with.
Series 3 begins
differently than I had anticipated after watching the cliffhanger
from last season's Men Should Weep (Part 3). I'm not going
to spoil the events, but they were big. The three-part
Brotherly Love is written by McGovern and follows the events
after the murder of a prostitute. The aftermath of last season is
not addressed directly, but rather indirectly throughout the three
episodes, which works. The writing is again quite intricate and
realistic. There is some really good tension between the
characters and some twists appear as well, but the real shocker
comes at the end of the third episode, an ending that stays with
you for a few minutes (especially if you've been following the
program from series two).
Best Boys is
a very good two-part program written by Paul Abbot that follows
middle-aged Stuart Grady (Liam Cunningham) and 17-year-old Bill
Preece (John Simm) on the run from the police. These two people
share an incredible bond when it comes down to the last twenty
minutes, but it takes very good writing to create that bond
realistically. The two actors give great performances. Meanwhile,
Fitz becomes a father, but is also hot on the fugitives' trail.
This episode is as dramatic and as good as Cracker gets.
True Romance
is a little different from the other stories as this one plays to
Fitz directly. A young female student from one of his lectures
forms an infatuation with him that turns deadly for unsuspecting
victims. The story could've been run-of-the-mill, but Paul Abbot
makes it worthwhile. Robbie Coltrane is also at his best here, but
he's best in all of the stories. The actor playing the student
gives a strong performance, too. However, I'm not all that
satisfied the way threads were cleared up. In fact, the last
episode leaves things open-ended. But when I think about it there
is nothing to wrap up. Problems don't go away or resolve
themselves easily in real life, and in that sense Cracker
stays true to its realistic approach to life and its characters.
The third disc
features the TV special Lucky White Ghost by Paul Abbot, a
90-minute program that follows Fitz to Hong Kong on another
lecture, but the murder of a businessman brings him back to the
game. Ghost tells a decent story and features some good
moments, but overall it can't compete with the other stories,
though it still is good.
THE VIDEO
HBO presents Cracker in
1.33:1 fullscreen format. Colors look good but not all that
bright. Detail is good and sharpness is fine. Black levels
and dark tones are alright. A few instances of compression
artifacts exist, while grain appears occasionally. The print image
is in good condition without any big scratches, but very little
dirt shows up once or twice. The overall presentation looks
decent for a show that's eight years old. A "play all" function
is available on all three discs.
THE AUDIO
HBO presents Cracker in English
Dolby Surround. The front speakers do all the work here, which
is fine. Dialogue is clear and easy to understand. The show's
score comes across rather well in the front-heavy presentation,
it's loud and almost never muffled. Some use of positional audio
reinforce the sound effects. Audio quality is perfectly fine for
this TV show. Regrettably, HBO did not include English subtitles
for this release. The show is closed captioned, however.
THE EXTRAS
There's nothing
here, which is disappointing. Interviews with Jimmy McGovern and
the cast, especially Robbie Coltrane, would've been excellent.
However, HBO was very kind to include the TV special Lucky
White Ghost on this set. In that respect, this category gets
some points.
Each episode is organized
into six chapters and runs circa 50 minutes each. The three discs are part of a practical
packaging that snaps shut the fold-out cover. The approximate
running time of all four stories is 465 minutes.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The only downside to
Cracker is its slow pace, but that's not a flaw. The third season
is very good overall, but I liked the first two seasons a bit more. I
highly recommend this program to everyone. It's clever, dramatic, and
real. With so many generic shows on TV right now, Cracker is
one of the very best you'll see.
