In the driver’s seat: Crime drama ‘Parish’ speeds through The Big Easy
One man’s grief will forever change the streets of New Orleans in “Parish,” the new crime drama series premiering Sunday, March 31, on AMC and its streaming service, AMC+. Based on the 2014 BBC One miniseries “The Driver,” “Parish” follows a former family man as he delves deep into the criminal underworld as a getaway driver.
Giancarlo Esposito (“Breaking Bad”) stars as Gracian “Gray” Parish, whose hard-won, comfortable life as a father, husband and business owner is flipped upside down after the violent murder of his son. When Gray’s luxury car service folds, he is left with no choice but to return to his past life as a criminal wheelman in order to support his family.
While Gray believes he is just slipping back into the role for one last job, his wife, Rose (Paula Malcomson, “Ray Donovan”), and daughter Makayla (Arica Himmel, “Mixed-ish”) quickly sniff out that he is up to something. Over the series’ six episodes, Gray’s life spirals deeper and deeper into New Orleans’ criminal underworld while he fights competing urges to pull himself back out into his family life and twist further into a villainous empire.
For years, Gray has been building a legitimate life and career for himself, but a meeting with an old friend sets him on a track to what he thinks will be some quick, easy money. Skeet Ulrich (“Riverdale”) is Colin, an acquaintance of Gray’s who becomes the connection between the former driver and a dangerous man who needs his help.
“I’m in need of a driver with a particular set of skills,” says Zackary Momoh (“The Nevers”) as the Zimbabwean gangster known around New Orleans as The Horse in the official teaser trailer for the series. Lucky for The Horse, Gray can really drive. Gray is trusted, or rather indebted, with a close relationship to the gangster, who assigns Gray some unexpected dirty work soon after he agrees to the job.
Before he knows it, Gray is in over his head. “They’re human traffickers, man,” Colin warns Gray from the back seat in the teaser. But there will be no backseat drivers in this leg of Gray’s journey.
“I’m tired of being the passenger in my own life,” Gray utters between dramatic car chases and explosions in the trailer. Though he claims to be picking up this shady work in order to keep his family afloat, Gray is eager to put his old persona back on.
Also starring in “Parish” are Bonnie Mbuli (“Vagrant Queen”) as The Horse’s older sister Shamiso Tongai; Ivan Mbakop (“Hawkeye”) as The Horse’s brother Zenzo; Dax Ray (“The Good Fight”) as The Horse’s son Luke; Bradley Whitford (“The Handmaid’s Tale”) as Louisiana businessman Anton; and Amanda Brugel (“Snowpiercer”) as Sister Anne.