‘Suspicion’ delivers thrills if you don’t think too hard
The son of a media mogul and U.S. ambassador hopeful is kidnapped at a luxury New York City hotel. Five British citizens, who happen to have been staying there at the time, become targets of the investigation in the new eight-episode Apple TV+ thriller “Suspicion,” which follows the “24” playbook: Count on breathless excitement and engaging characters to outrun any gaps in logic.
The first two episodes of the disposably entertaining series premiere Friday, Feb. 4, and neatly establish the circumstances. The rest of the installments drop Fridays through March 18.
The investigation, led by the FBI's Scott Anderson (Noah Emmerich) and his British counterpart (an appealing Angel Coulby), pull in four of the five suspects for questioning as accomplices, release them for lack of evidence but keep them under surveillance.
They are budding cyberexpert Aadesh Chopra (Kunal Nayyar of CBS' “Big Bang Theory”), who was in town for a job interview; Oxford adjunct professor Tara McAllister (Elizabeth Henstridge, “Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”), who was in town at a conference; Natalie Thompson (Georgina Campbell), who was visiting her sister (Lydia West); and Walker (Tom Rhys Harries), a rich-kid student who was partying, as usual, in New York.
Eluding capture — and the one person who seems absolutely involved with the kidnapping — is known terrorist Sean Tilson (Elyes Gabel of CBS' “Scorpion”).
The crime makes international news and creates a social media mob that harasses the suspects, who eventually decide that to clear their name they must band together to find the real kidnappers.
But the mob also has little sympathy for the victim's cold, calculating mother Katherine Newman (Uma Thurman). The kidnappers' only demands seem to be for Katherine to #TellTheTruth, a hashtag that inspires demonstrations, making “Suspicion” as much a comment on social media as it is a thriller.
Although the main group of four are all more or less interesting characters who are easy to root for, perhaps the most fascinating is the coldhearted terrorist, Sean. Gabel is excellent as a trained professional who is a master of disguise, dark ops and human behavior and is lethal without mercy. When he encounters the group, there is genuine suspense as to whether he might end up killing them all.
Nayyar's Aadesh, who is struggling to keep his marriage together, and Campbell's Natalie, who was nearly at the altar on her wedding day when she was taken into custody, are the emotional center of the series and, along with Gabel, make it worth watching.
However, Thurman's onscreen time is minimal, and though she is effective as always, her corporate board power struggle and dealings with the media are the weakest parts of the series. Coulby and Emmerich are both watchable, but their repartee — at times adversarial, at times grudgingly respectful — never rises above cliche.
Overall assessment: There wouldn't be a series without it, but the group's decision to band together and try to solve a mystery that is vexing the brightest minds of the FBI and British intelligence is a pretty stupid one. If you're innocent, just sitting at home and doing nothing while the police do their work is the best path to clearing your name.
But, hey, who cares? It's a fun ride.