The Day Of The Jackal: Season 1 – Review | A Late Addition To Best Shows Of 2024

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Plot Summary

After the assassination of a German politician, Europe is on high alert, and questions about who the killer is, how they landed such a masterful shot, and what their origins are run rampant throughout various agencies, such as MI:6. That is when Bianca comes in, an ambitious MI:6 agent who finds herself having to force her way into rooms and conversations to take the lead on this case.

But, the person she is up against, code-named “The Jackal,” isn’t simply a sniper with notable talents. From his ability to evade police with disguises to his relationship with a man named Norman who collaborates with him to create weapons capable of not only his shots but bypassing security, “The Jackal” is unlike what many have seen. This is why both ne’er-do-wells and MI:6 seek him out as his next target, a man named UIle Dag Charles, threatens the world markets with his product “River,” which proposes utter financial transparency.

Review

Our Rating (82/100): Positive (Watch This)

While “The Day Of The Jackal” may have heroes who can feel underwhelming at times, there is no denying The Jackal, in terms of writing and performance, compensates in such a way you almost think he was too good ever truly to have a match.

Audience

“The Day Of The Jackal” is for those who love spy dramas. Those who don’t focus on the villain of the week but on a notably formidable one who always seems to be multiple steps ahead of our hero, sometimes by design.

Highlights

How The Jackal Operates As An Assassin

What makes “The Day Of The Jackal” special is the intensity of its violence. When “The Jackal” is in a situation either completing a job or, on occasion, making a statement, there is a tone to the scene that doesn’t match the thrill most action sequences usually have. Rather, since “The Jackal” is a sniper, it is about the anxiety, the patience, breath control, and what each shot or act is meant to do. Even when moving quicker, Redmayne and the creatives push you never to feel like anything is done to be flashy.

In many ways, “The Day Of The Jackal” tries to push you to, similar to “Civil War” in some ways, get you to appreciate the power of bullets. The only difference is, while “Civil War” pushed you to acknowledge the sound of violence, I’d submit “The Day Of The Jackal” wants you to understand the quieting and acceptance of violence as an option carefully chosen rather than recklessly pursued.  

Humanizing The Jackal Doesn’t Ruin The Character

Throughout the first season of “The Day Of The Jackal,” “The Jackal” chooses many names. One of the most often used is “Charles,” which his wife, Nuria, calls him. Now, you may think that demystifying such a character could ruin him. However, it allows a level of complexity not always seen when you humanize the would-be villain.

For one, “The Day Of The Jackal” often parallels Charles and Bianca’s lives as they struggle to be good at their jobs and maintain some form of personal life, especially a relationship involving at least one kid. This helps you see them as two sides of the same coin and that, in a different life, they could be on opposing sides, if not the same.

One reason this becomes notably clear, beyond their personal lives, as the season goes on, is that Bianca and Charles produce collateral damage in the form of many people who didn’t need to die. Bianca’s deaths mainly involve witnesses and other people she tries to use to get to Charles, and the deaths in Charles’ line of work involve people who get too close or become liabilities.

It is in showing no hero is without blood on their hands and no villain purely a monster that Charles, even when the show fully breaks down his backstory, remains engaging, someone you find yourself rooting for, but also recognize is capable of great and notable violence.

On The Fence

How The Heroes Are Crafted Pales In Comparison To The Would-Be Villain

While Bianca and Charles mirror each other, it can often feel like Bianca is playing catch up and rarely, if ever, meets Charles at his level. This goes well beyond her investigation and bleeds into the development of the character. Though you may come to care about Charles’ marriage and his family drama, the same may not be said about Bianca.

Yes, she is married to Paul, who has more of a life outside of Bianca than Nuria does Charles, but he isn’t made to be interesting. Their shared daughter doesn’t add much either, even when she has her life threatened. Also, even when both Bianca and Charles face the possibility of separation or divorce, you don’t find yourself mourning the possibility of Bianca losing Paul.

To put it plainly, Bianca feels like a neutered hero. Taking note of her work in MI:6, as much as you can get this sense of her being an underdog, having to fight often or convince people she knows what she is doing, it doesn’t add to your investment. In fact, with every stumble she makes, you may find yourself applauding while worrying that she may get the upper hand by the show deciding to diminish Charles for Bianca’s benefit.

Thankfully, that last part doesn’t happen, but with Bianca rarely giving us a hero’s journey worth siding with, you’ll constantly feel, until the finale, that with “The Day Of The Jackal” being renewed, while Bianca could be replaceable, this show would experience a massive slump if it tried to replace Charles.  

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