By: Bill Cushing – 9-26
What happens when the woman who has spent her life fooling everyone else becomes the one who’s been fooled? That’s the premise of ‘Lucky,’ a new limited series on AppleTV and my recommendation for this month.
Executive-produced by Reese Witherspoon, ‘Lucky’ begins in Las Vegas, where Luciana “Lucky” Armstrong (Anya Taylor-Joy) is celebrating a successful heist with her husband, Cary. There is nearly $10 million in stolen cash, a luxury hotel suite, and the promise that the two of them are finally free to leave their criminal lives behind. Then everything goes sideways, when Lucky wakes up to find her husband has taken the money and left her behind.
With an FBI Agent named Rand, and a merciless crime boss named Priscilla (who also happens to be her mother-in-law) closing in on her, Lucky goes on quite the journey across these seven episodes. When she wakes up in a hotel to find her husband and the money gone, she immediately has to spring into action.
Lucky is scrappy, smart and resourceful, but far from invincible, making these encounters tense without being unrealistic. And the big question in the early episodes is where and why Cary ran off with the money, which inevitably has Lucky looking at their relationship in an entirely new light. The answer gives a surprising and satisfying mid-series resolution.
Advising Lucky on her next move is her dad, John, an inmate at a federal prison. John reassures her that she’s capable of handling this mess, which, it turns out, is really his fault. You see he used to work for Priscilla, and his attempts to manipulate her led to Lucky’s predicament. John says he loves his daughter while simultaneously showing her that he’s all about deceit.
Even after they talk, his voice remains lodged in Lucky’s head as she tries to figure out whether Cary has swindled her, been kidnapped, or fallen victim to some other type of misfortune. The more you watch ‘Lucky’ the more you realize that this is really a story about the impact of influential childhoods, and how difficult it is for children to outgrow and break away from their parents’ wishes.
‘Lucky’ is an incredibly exciting show because each episode provides non-stop action. Whether Lucky relies on her sharp intelligence to outwit the people around her or just barely evades Rand and Priscilla’s clutches through pure coincidence, there’s never a second when the viewer can forget that this is a very high-stakes situation.
The cat-and-mouse game between Rand and Lucky, as well as Lucky and her mother-in-law, results in a propulsive thrill ride. Alongside its car chases, shootouts, and narrow escapes, Lucky rises above a traditional crime thriller by also diving deeper into the characters. By the series’ end, you’ll have a much deeper understanding of each of them, even the villains.
A top-notch cast is led by an excellent performance by Taylor-Joy. She is joined by co-stars Annette Bening as mob boss Priscilla, Timothy Olyphant as Lucky’s father John, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor as FBI agent Rand, Drew Starkey as Lucky’s husband Cary, Clifton Collins, Jr. as the mob enforcer Dutch, and William Fichtner as the enigmatic mob boss Whittaker. All do great work in their respective roles.
Now that all seven episodes are out, Lucky is a great option for a weekend binge-watch, with the conclusion a thoughtful wrap-up that will leave you feeling satisfied with where all the characters have ended up.
Likely, there will be plenty more exceptional crime thrillers this year, but there’s no way Lucky won’t make the list as one of the best.
‘Lucky’ is available to stream on AppleTV.
If you have any questions about TV, you can email me at BillsTVTalk@gmail.com. I will answer all of your questions and will feature some of the questions I receive in a future Mailbag column. Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @BillsTVTalk and on Facebook at BillsTVTalk for daily up-to-the-minute TV news and discussion. ◊