Culprits

All in all, it’s fast-paced and flashy, and it feels emotionally honest, at least in the characterization of the two romantic leads who form the heart of the story. Does it completely revolutionize the heist-show formula? Of course not. But there is enough style and substance for it to leave a strong impression.

Though the ultimate prize at the end turns out to be a disappointment, the journey to get there is still one to watch. Culprits never plays its full hand, not even with David, creating an unreliable narrator for a modern age where neither technology can be trusted nor the ones you love the most.

Culprits may not have made an entirely clean getaway, but it still largely delivered a fun contemporary caper.

There is flair, fun and finesse here, particularly in the performance and staging, but overall, Culprits is a stickup series that doesn’t quite pull off the heist.

After a strong start, with the series immediately drawing you in and holding you there, the final couple of episodes fall flat. But there is much to enjoy about Culprits, with Stewart-Jarrett's performance as David a particular highlight. He's the beating heart of this story, as he desperately scrambles to protect his family from the impending hellfire that is 'Devil' - another highlight - and in his more emotional, tender scenes, he shines.

The eight episodes are too cruel and brutal to satisfy the “fun heist” genre, and judged on its own merits, the show fails to marry its two halves. BEFORE and NOW feel like separate shows, both incomplete and neither all that satisfying.

Is it possible that some viewers will feel invested enough after five episodes to maintain enthusiasm through the less-than-lackluster conclusion? Yes, but by the end I felt like I was watching a child’s haphazard finger-painting much more than the work of a modernist master.