Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Undercover’ on Netflix, a Cops-Infiltrating-Crooks Series That’s Not Quite as Generic as its Title

Undercover is a crime-drama series on Netflix exploiting a dichotomy — the natural beauty of Western Europe with the ugliness of its status as the world’s ecstasy capitol. It pits organized criminals against undercover cops, a premise that we’ve seen, oh, only several hundred times before. But it’s not the story, it’s the execution, and it remains to be seen if this series adheres to or overcomes genre cliches.

UNDERCOVER: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: An idyllic sunrise over Limburg. Could this be the most beautiful place in Europe? There’s absolutely no way it could be home to a vast underground drug network!

The Gist: Limburg, the Dutch province bordering Belgium, has a dark underbelly. So says some opening narration, which explains, over images of gorgeous pastoral scenes, how the area is “like Colombia for ecstasy,” producing 500 million tablets distributed all over the world. “It’s the love drug,” the narrator says, over an image of a woman humping a tree, her undies riding up her crack.

Then, a remote warehouse. Inside, two Chinese men, chained together with ankle shackles, cook ecstasy. They quarrel. One stabs the other in the gut. The stabber walks out the door dragging the chain; you don’t want to know what he had to do to the stabbee to free himself, but you could probably guess. These men were under the employ of Limburg’s ecstasy king, Ferry Bouman (Frank Lammers), who has an ample midsection, hair slicked back with a quart of STP, a loyal right-hand man and a legion of minions of various degrees of incompetence.

Cut to Bob Lemmens (Tom Waes), who nearly gets a bullet for dinner while working undercover to take down a group of illicit weapons traffickers. He’s perfect for the new sting operation his employers concoct to bust Ferry: Bob will represent the Belgian force, and Kim de Rooij (Anna Drijver), the Dutch. They’ll pose as a couple — cue the sexual tension — moving into a dumpy trailer practically in the backyard of Ferry’s sprawling villa. Ferry’s wife, Danielle (Elise Schaap), is a trophyesque chatterbox who dotes on her dog and bawls when she learns the wives of Ferry’s cohorts don’t like her — a weak spot which Kim sees as a possible in, and she finds a way to get invited to the Boumans’ barbecue.

Meanwhile, Ferry brutally executes the dolt soldier who lied to him about the fate of the escaped Chinese cooker. Then, he realizes the cops have placed trackers on his and his employees’ cars. Knowing the disposition of such characters, you won’t be surprised to learn he’s not happy about this; the next time he sees Bob and Kim, he eyes them suspiciously. A trio of reveals concludes the episode: Bob goes home to his wife and two kids. Kim goes home to an empty apartment, then heads to a nightclub, takes some ecstasy — gasp! — and hooks up with a stranger in a toilet stall. And Ferry decides to consult the snitch cop he keeps on his payroll, and figure out who’s sniffing around his operation.

Our Take: It has a generic title and premise, but Undercover has a smidgen of a Euro-backwoods Justified vibe, some subtle comedy and just enough eccentricity in its tone and characters to make it interesting. The dynamic between Kim, who likes to play it loose and improv, and Bob, who prefers to carefully plan every move, has good dramatic potential.

Otherwise, the pilot sticks closely to the prestige-TV formula. Whether it emphasizes its eccentricities or leans into its boilerplate plot structure will determine whether we keep watching or throw it in the growing heap of subterfuge stories. In this subgenre, maintaining suspense is key — will it stay taught or get lax and flabby?

Sex and Skin: Nothing too titillating here so far — Kim’s toilet-stall sex scene is less hot and steamy, more damp and yucky.

Parting Shot: A low-angle reveal of who Ferry’s inside man is! And we saw him earlier in the episode! It’s the guy with the prosthetic leg — and a story, no doubt! The plot thicks!

Sleeper Star: So far, Schaap has a good opportunity to craft a well-rounded character. Danielle could be the chink in Ferry’s armor, but Schaap doesn’t play her as the typical overpampered ditz. The kingpin’s wife is always a meaty role. I’m not sure she’s in Carmela Soprano territory yet, but the role has significant potential for color and complexity.

Most Pilot-y Line: “It stinks of dead birds.” So says Bob and Kim’s supervisor, conveying a complaint about their cramped, crappy trailer digs. Is dead bird stink a bad omen foreshadowing the fracture of their undercover scheme by the season finale? We’ll see.

Our Call: STREAM IT. It’s solid, but not extraordinary. Give it another episode or two before you write it off.

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Read more of his work at johnserbaatlarge.com or follow him on Twitter: @johnserba.

Stream Undercover on Netflix