Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
One of the ways you know you’re crossing over into adulthood is that you start to like cop shows. Law & Order becomes a necessary binge-watch, you find that you know the names of all the main characters on any variation of CSI, and dammit if you don’t get emotional thinking about the Reagan clan on Blue Bloods.
But some of us never quite got hooked on the police procedural. We didn’t find the detectives that appealed to us, and you know what, some people haven’t even watched The Wire. It happens! And it’s ok. Because there’s a cop show for people that don’t watch cop shows, and it’s on Netflix now.
Vexed is a British series, boasting a total of 3 hour-long episodes in season one, and 6 in season 2. Hello, binge-watch! It’s perfect to breeze through in a weekend, and will keep you captivated the whole time.
Toby Stephens stars as DI Jack Armstrong, a guy who can be a total ass, but gets the job done when it matters. In season 1 he’s paired with Lucy Punch, as DI Kate Bishop, and the two are really on to something. She’s type-A, he’s the type to make comments that no law enforcer ever should, especially when it comes to women, race, sexuality, and even the disabled. But it works! You care more about their partnership than the case at hand, and look forward to when they leave the crime scene and get back into the car for some serious banter. Vexed knows how to give each case the minimal amount of attention it needs: yeah, you’re invested and you’ll pay attention to statements and try to put clues together. But it’s the living, law-enforcing people that are more interesting than the dead bodies. And don’t worry, it never gets too, too gory.
You quickly wonder what will happen to Kate and her husband Dan, played by Rory Kinnear in a super understated role — especially if you’re a fan of the creepy lengths he went to in the rom-com Man Up. You root for Jack and Kate to work together despite their odd couple tendencies, and oh yeah, it’d be nice if they could track down that murderer, too. But the fact that there’s more going on than just cop stuff is what keeps this cop show interesting.
In season 2, Kate is out, which is very much a bummer at first. Of all the wacky roles Punch has found herself in, Vexed really knew how to use both her physical and very subtle comedy in excellent ways. But enter DI Georgina Dixon (Miranda Raison), who is even more buttoned up (on the job, at least), putting Jack’s comedy on display a bit more. The show loves a gag that runs far too long, from using a neighbor’s toilet, to the never-ending nose blowing from a sobbing griever. Vexed brings a heavy dose of comedy, in fact, even heavier than the crime part, which is what makes it so appealing to those not normally drawn to the genre — and those that are, too.
What this series does so well is find the silly side to solving crimes, a side that probably doesn’t exist at all IRL. Vexed doesn’t shy away from absurd but does swerve away from the super dark and depressing themes at hand, with an extended joke locked and loaded in just the right places. By putting the emphasis on the comedy over the crime, without entirely abandoning their mission, the only thing this show will have you feeling vexed about is why you didn’t start watching it sooner.
