Painkiller

In later episodes, “Painkiller” at times veers into heavy-handed messaging, as we see how the respective main storylines play out as a kind of morality play. Still, this is an invaluable and at times heartbreakingly effective piece of work.

A propulsive and compulsively watchable evisceration of the company that created a nationwide crisis.

Through its comprehensive recounting of a still-timely, avoidable national tragedy and the effective performances that complement those realities, Painkiller operates like Oxy’s own time-release mechanism. Its devastation lingers.

This Netflix limited series manages to stand on its own. At six episodes, compared to eight for “Dopesick,” “Painkiller” tells its story with more expediency.

Aduba comes to enraged life as she describes the sins of the Sackler family for the firm in the present day. Flowers in flashback – as she digs deeper with her investigations – is riveting; tough, disbelieving, straightalking and alternating between determination and despair as the scale of the deception, corruption, addictions, bereavements and misery become apparent.

The weakest overall link in the series is the Sackler family material, which never quite comes into focus. This was also the case in Dopesick. Perhaps it’s just difficult to fathom and effectively dramatize such bland, blinkered greed. But Painkiller is still mighty potent, another kaleidoscopic call to awareness of a massive public health crisis and the family most responsible for causing it.