Low Winter Sun: Season 1 (2013)
Average Rating: 6.4/10
Reviews Counted: 28
Fresh: 13 | Rotten: 15
Mark Strong makes for a compelling lead, but Low Winter Sun is too serious for its own good, sagging under the weight of its bleak, brooding tone.
Average Rating: 6/10
Critic Reviews: 15
Fresh: 7 | Rotten: 8
Mark Strong makes for a compelling lead, but Low Winter Sun is too serious for its own good, sagging under the weight of its bleak, brooding tone.
Season Info
The lives of two Detroit detectives change course after they murder a fellow cop in this adaptation of a British miniseries.
Network: AMC
Premiere Date: Aug 11, 2013
Cast
-
Mark Strong
Det. Frank Agnew -
Lennie James
Det. Joe Geddes -
-
Alon Abutbul
Alexander Skelos -
-
James Harvey Ward
Michael -
Ron C. Jones
Reverend Lowdown -
-
-
-
-
Ruben Santiago-Hudso...
Lt. Charles Dawson -
Sprague Grayden
Maya Callis -
Billy Lush
Nick Paflas -
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Episodes
Pilot
Detectives Frank Agnew and Joe Geddes murder a fellow Detroit police officer in the opener of this crime drama based on a British miniseries. As internal affairs investigates the case, crime lord Damon Callis and his wife Maya discuss future plans.
The Goat Rodeo
A police search of McCann's house turns up evidence that could alter the case; Geddes becomes the focal point of Det. Boyd's investigation; and Maya and Damon are forced to reevaluate their plans.
No Rounds
Frank and Geddes work to cover up evidence in McCann's murder; Damon's crew prepares for the Blind Pig opening.
Catacombs
Frank obsesses over finding Katia, whlle Geddes fears that her return will ruin him.
Cake on the Way
The DPD's investigation intensifies when a low-level murder is linked to McCann. Damon has to pay the cost of his ambitions. -- (C) AMC
The Way Things Are
Frank navigates through unfamiliar territory in his search for Katia. Damon is forced to ask for help from an enemy, while Nick proves his worth. -- (C) AMC
There Was a Girl
The DPD catches a break on the McCann case. Damon and Maya's freedom is threatened. Lies from the past bring Geddes and Frank to a confrontation. -- (C) AMC
Revelations
Frank testifies in court, and Geddes takes his family on a trip. Meanwhile, Damon and Maya start their new lives under Skelos.
Ann Arbor
Frank grapples with his sanity as the realities of his actions start to take their toll. Meanwhile, the DPD catches a major break in the McCann case. -- (C) AMC
Surrender
While the DPD gets close to solving McCann's murder, Frank is forced to make a critical decision. Damon makes his boldest move yet. -- (C) AMC
Critic Reviews for Low Winter Sun: Season 1
For those looking for yet another quality show for their Sunday nights, "Low Winter Sun" soars high.
It comes off as a straining, overly serious wannabe.
Low Winter Sun makes you want to watch for the potential, but a little more sun (or dark humor) to offset the This Is Serious tone would go a long way in encouraging that potential to be realized.
The performances really are good, almost good enough to make the hokey dialogue believable, but not quite good enough to make Low Winter Sun a must-see.
Veteran actor Mark Strong is absolutely riveting.
Based on a British series, Sun is yet another entrant in what appears to be some cable death match to see which service can offer the dreariest hour. It's too early to declare a winner, but this drama certainly keeps AMC in the race.
Low on initial appeal and likewise short on originality, it's a bleak 'n' grim undertaking that just doesn't seem built for the long haul.
If any further evidence were needed that the rugged, anti-heroic white-dude drama is played out, AMC's latest could be Exhibit A.
The series merits a look, certainly, but the first two episodes mostly live down to the title -- throwing off limited heat, and even less light.
Low Winter Sun's cast is top-notch all the way around, especially the actors playing the detective partners-in-crimes. Lennie James.
It is delivering, yes, a pretentious speech about morality by way of introducing itself, one that sounds self-aware, but is just nonsense.
Low Winter Sun is so clotted with bleak cityscapes, shadowy interiors and brooding portent that the narrative sags under the weight of all that mood-setting.
The ensemble is well-cast and believable, but most impressive is London-born leading man Strong, who's reprising the role he played in the original series, this time swapping his character's Scottish accent for an American one.
Low Winter Sun is a good show with the potential to grow into a very good show.
The drama, which is an adaptation of a U.K. series of the same name, tries way too hard to be a Serious Cable Drama. The strain almost turns it into a parody of the genre.
Terrifically hard to love, but some superb performances indicate that at least it's worth the effort to try.
For fans of complicated, gritty drama, it's worth keeping an eye on.
The performances are terrific and Dickerson shoots the Detroit locations in a fashion that captures both the beauty of the architecture and the absolute bleakness of the setting.
Low Winter Sun does feel so far like a missed, or at least not-yet-realized, opportunity.
The crime and the characters it involves are compelling, and viewers will be hooked early.
For the moment, all that is brimming here is the evidence of an ill-advised faith in the drawing power of depressive police dramas.
It's a fascinating visual ride. But without heroes worth rooting for or a victim worth avenging, the rubble heaps of an imploded metropolis can only do so much heavy lifting.
Low Winter Sun is just the latest quality drama to disappoint by capturing the surface of shows like The Shield or Breaking Bad but missing the exquisitely hewn souls that make those shows tick.
The pacing of the first two episodes could be better, but English actors Mark Strong and Lennie James deliver spot-on performances.
What elevates Low Winter Sun into the category of must-see-if-you-care-about-quality-TV-drama are its vision and sensibility, largely articulated through its depiction of Detroit.
AMC should have another hit on it's character driven hands.
Low Winter Sun too often lingers on Detroit's colorless evil more than its spirited righteousness, resulting in an overwhelmingly bleak narrative that feels as cold and lifeless as a corpse.
It's a swaggering, snarling mess so rife with clichés that one has to believe the majority of them are intentional.
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