Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
Cast: Kaley Cuoco, Michiel Huisman, Zosia Mamet, T.R. Knight, Michelle Gomez, Colin Woodell, Merle Dandridge, Griffin Matthews, Nolan Gerard Funk, Rosie Perez, Audrey Grace Marshall, Yasha Jackson, Jason Jones, Terry Serpico, Deniz Akdeniz, Stephanie Koenig, David Iacono, Owen Asztalos, Brandon Morris, Ritchie Coster, Briana Cuoco, Alberto Frezza, Sherin Shetty, Bruce Baek, Isha Blaaker, Ann Magnuson, James Seol, Hannah Tinker, William DeMeritt, Tim Rogan, Bebe Neuwirth.
The classic era of cinematic noir has, in some quarters, been long overlooked as being one of the most dynamic and influential of all artistic endeavours and creative inventions of the 20th Century, and whilst that influence has been felt keenly in films and television series over the last forty years, it has arguably reached a new high, one that captures the original detail of the genre, in the superb The Flight Attendant.
Based on the excellent novel by Chris Bohjalian, The Flight Attendant’s adaption and creation under the watchful eye of Steve Yockey is creatively one of the most stirring and enjoyable series of late, the undertones of madness brought on by the traumatic events, even sociable abuse, that has skewed Cassie Bowden’s thinking, relationships and alcohol misuse since being a young girl is right up there with the way Hitchcock captured the inner demons of Norman Bates, the psychological fear installed by Robert Mitchum as Reverend Harry Powell in The Night Of The Hunter and the style and panache of arguably the last great noir of the 20th Century, the phenomenal Mulholland Drive.
It is to the entire cast and creatives that worked on the project, especially re-working around the pandemic that initially stalled production of the series, that makes this particular series one of genius, and in the performance of Kaley Cuoco as the eponymous flight attendant, Michelle Gomez as the mysterious Miranda Croft, and Michiel Huisman as the murdered Alex Sokolov, the eight part drama should be seen as one of significance, of extending the appeal of the genre, of showing the damage caused by the influence of alcohol when it is misused, when it becomes crippling to the point of destruction.
The Flight Attendant is suave, stylish and sophisticated on the surface, but it is underneath that its true success lays, the waves of inserted memories witnessed in a dream like scenario by Cassie and Alex, the subplot of the mystery of espionage created by Rosie Perez’s Megan Briscoe, the clues, the pitfalls, it is dirty, dangerous and not without the charm to scathe and score graffiti onto your heart, for in the end this series has everything a crime enthusiast and Noir fanatic could hope for.
Absolutely superb!
Ian D. Hall