Stream It Or Skip It: ‘C.B. Strike’ On Cinemax, A Drama Based On J.K. Rowling’s Crime Novels

We understand why J.K. Rowling wrote non-Harry Potter novels under pseudonyms; she wanted the novels to stand on their own and not just sell like crazy because her name was on them. But if those novels are like the C.B. Strike series, she doesn’t need to worry. The detective series comes to our shores via Cinemax, who picked up the BBC production of the series. Will it keep viewers intrigued?

C.B. STRIKE: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: A paparazzo looks at the photos he’s taken of a gorgeous celebrity on the screen of his camera, then he approaches a bar where the same model is attending a party and takes pictures of her through the window. She seems OK with it, drawing a heart in the fogged-up window. Then she walks into the snowy London street, no coat on, and poses for even more snaps.

The Gist: The model is named Lula Landry (Elarica Johnson). We see her return to her elegant flat, admire a poster-sized picture of herself, then decide on what outfit to wear for her next adventure. She eventually eschews the tiny dresses for a comfy sweater and leggings. She answers the doorbell. Then the next thing we see is Lula face-down in the snowy street, having supposedly committed suicide by throwing herself out her window.

We cut to a young woman walking up the stairs to an office, where she hears a dispute going on. She sees a woman angrily exit the office, almost nudging her down the stairs. The guy she’s there to see, private investigator Cormoran (C.B.) Strike (Tom Burke) catches her; the woman, Robin Ellacott (Holliday Grainger) has been assigned to work as Strike’s temp for a week. Strike doesn’t even remember he ordered a temp, but she starts work because she’s already paid for. Apparently Strike has been sleeping in his office, so Robin’s first task is to clean up.

A potential client walks in, a man named John Bristow (Leo Bill) who knew Strike from their school years. He wants Strike to look into the death of his sister, model Lula Landry. The police are ruling it as a suicide, but Bristow thinks she was murdered. Strike takes a desperately-needed £1000 from Bristow to start looking into it. While he does, Robin finds out a bit about her new boss: the estranged son of a famous rock star, he used to be in the Royal Military Police before losing a leg in Afghanistan. He also has a broken engagement with a well-known socialite in his past.

The more Strike finds out about Lula, the more he realizes that, despite well-documented mental-health issues, she probably didn’t kill herself, despite the definitive assessment of the police’s lead investigator, DI Eric Wardle (Killian Scott). He’s especially intrigued when he’s warned off by Lula’s powerful barrister uncle Tony Landry (Martin Shaw). Robin is also getting involved, and decides to stay past the end of her temp assignment.

Our Take: C.B. Strike aired in the UK in 2017-18 as Strike, and it’s based on the crime novels J.K. Rowling wrote under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith (Rowling is an executive producer of the series); the first three episodes cover the novel The Cuckoo’s Calling, while the other two novels in the series will be covered by 2-episode arcs. It’s a nice way to digest each story, with each novel delving into Strike’s and Robin’s backstories while solving juicy mysteries that won’t take forever to unwind.

One of the issues US-based procedurals always have is that either the backstories of the characters are missing in favor of more complicated mysteries, or the mysteries are abbreviated in order to service the regular characters. The British format, which we’ve seen on similar shows like Luther, have room to service both.

And we absolutely want to know more about Cormoran Strike. About his physical and emotional battle wounds, about his relationship with his famous dad, how his mother, who died mysteriously, influenced his life, and how the skills he gained as a military investigator make him better than the average P.I.

His soon-to-be investigative partner, Robin, is attracted to the action and intrigue, which we find out about when she enthusiastically communicates to her fiance Matt Cunliffe (Kerr Logan) about Strike’s background, and relishes posing as a young woman Lula was friends with in order to get her credit card company to give a current address.

Burke and Grainger establish a great chemistry right away, and the fact that they settle into a fine investigative team doesn’t feel forced. What intrigues us about C.B. Strike is that it has the sheen of the old BBC cop shows you might have seen on Mystery! or Masterpiece Theater, with more Peak TV depth. But none of it is so taxing that it feels like work.

Sex and Skin: We see Robin do some light snogging with Matt, but everyone has their clothes on; the purpose is to show that, unlike Strike, Robin isn’t a misanthropic loner. But she finds she’s loving the thrill of the chase.

Parting Shot: Strike goes to the apartment where Rochelle (Tezlym Senior-Sakutu), Lula’s friend who may know something about who killed her, lives, and finds her at the bottom of an overflowing, scaldingly-hot bathtub. He pulls her out and tries to resuscitate her, but she’s pretty obviously dead.

Sleeper Star: Scott’s good as the dickish police inspector who seems all to ready to close the case. And Shaw’s wonderfully creepy as Lula’s uncle Tony.

Most Pilot-y Line: We know that Robin’s fiance Matt is an integral part of the novels, because he’ll get increasingly annoyed at Robin’s involvement in Strike’s cases. But in the first episode, he’s just seen as guy who thinks Robin is way hotter than the model whose death she’s helping investigate.

Our Call: Stream It. C.B. Strike goes down easy, but it’s got enough twists and turns that you can’t just watch it while folding laundry. And that seems to be a good sweet spot for a detective show.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, VanityFair.com, Playboy.com, Fast Company’s Co.Create and elsewhere.

Watch C.B. Strike on MaxGo