Official Synopsis
A three-part mini-series, centers on Pagford, a seemingly idyllic English village with a cobbled market square and ancient abbey. Behind the pretty façade, however, is a town at war. The rich at war with the poor, children at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils.
Before we begin, let me just admit to you now that I have not read the novel by the same name from J.K. Rowling — not yet, at least. I knew of it before watching this mini-series and I was looking forward to a more adult storyline, something that will make me think Rowling does more than just write novels about wizards and wonders (I love the Harry Potter series, though). If this mini-series is any indication of the writing paradigm shift that Mrs. Rowling has taken since the HP series, she didn’t disappoint with a darker, more adult oriented tone. Anyway, just wanted to mention this admission before you continue reading.
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Having said that, The Casual Vacancy is properly put into a mini-series format. This much material, plus enough time to let the characters and situations bake properly, deserves a mini-series format. That was important if it was to see success because it contains such a big story full of secretive characters, who slowly bloom their true feathers. And the series does a great job in that aspect, using up all the time it can do things properly. Sadly, it does fall short in some areas.
Let’s get right to it, shall we?
The first act shallowly introduces the snakes in the grass and the lone, true hero in the first 10-minutes of the opening episode. Barry Fairbrother (Rory Kinnear), our main protagonist, is a helpful guy around the small town of Pagford, who believes that everyone deserves a chance, though in the case of some folks, multiple chances. Fairbrother is an important part of the town’s parish council (first tier, local government), someone who tends to keep the rest of the council grounded on every type of decision they make, and they do make important ones. The council controls the direction of the town, such as what/who it should let into their tiny bubble, which is the crux of the overall story. Stressed to the brink thanks to the council’s pressure to keep ‘certain types’ of people out of town, and dealing with his own problems with friends (specifically a heroin addict named Terri (Keeley Forsyth)) and family (a jealous, abusive brother named Simon Price (Richard Glover)), Fairbrother’s own body puts him out of his misery via an aneurism. While some folks in Pagford genuinely morn Fairbrother’s death, the council takes it as an opportunity to seize control of his seat, and vote, but it all comes at a cost, as Fairbrother starts blogging from the afterlife about the secret lives of Pagford’s council members.
You can’t tell me this isn’t a genius opening act. It has deep character development, a helluva hook in the setup department and a thrilling mystery with both protagonist and antagonists that keeps you glued to the show. Plus, as I mentioned above, it’s in a mini-series format, so it all stands a great chance of becoming something memorable and worth the time invested. All of these assumptions can be yanked from the first act of the story. It is put into a great position to make the adventure/mystery deep and satisfying. And that feeling continues into act two.
Act two shines with individual storylines. The ghost of Barry Fairbrother sets each character up and delivers resoundingly. You get to learn about Barry’s brother Simon, a petty thief that abuses his kids. You get a full picture of Howard Mollison (Michael Gambon) and his sheep of a son, Miles (Rufus Jones), who is being pushed by his father to take Barry’s seat. Everyone on the council is exposed, even the good folks who want to make a difference. One particular storyline that has nothing to do with the vacant spot on the council, which stands out from the rest, is the recovering heroin addict, Terri, and her daughter Krystal (Abigail Lawrie), the latter of which steals the attention away from the rest of the story in act two. Krystal is a teenager, who is raising her brother Robbie (Bryce Sanders) and dealing with the ongoing drama that comes with a mother that is continually falling off the wagon, as well as the people who come with her. Krystal’s storyline is begging for a good ending, though, much like Krystal’s current situation, the story isn’t letting in any light to her life. Anyway, all of these moments and characters mixed together are somehow either tied to the election or tied to the everlasting ideals that Barry left behind (as well as his impression he left on them).
Act two is a glorious, well-thought out mess of an act. It truly lays all the dirty secrets out in the open for all of these people. Like I stated before, the real gem, though a tragic one, is the story of Krystal and her constant struggle to keep her head above water, as well as her brother’s. She doesn’t have a lot of connection to the main mystery, other than the impression that Barry made on her, but she does show the most grounded viewpoint through all the acts of this entire story. Maybe that is her purpose to act as the grounding storyline to remind everyone that the life the council is fighting for is not anywhere close to the life that Barry was fighting for in Pagford. She is some sort of melding point for the characters, but nothing solid and purposeful in long run. Anyway, act two does a superb job with setting up the impending downfall of some characters and starts to spark life, as well as speed, into the story. You can sense halfway through the story that everything these people have been hiding from each other is about to come shooting out into the open and doom their chances of selfishly undoing what Barry has done in Pagford.
If only.
Well, as cheating, stealing and cheating (in a different way) is outed in act three, it all goes off with a whimper rather than a resounding boom. While I won’t reveal too much about the conclusion, I will say that it’s all over the place, unsatisfying in some areas and confusing in others. Krystal’s fate is out of left field and truly unfitting for the person that the story built together. She is much stronger than how she ends up, and certainly will make the story a little bit ‘blah’ instead of memorable. The rest of the bunch certainly gets what they deserve, but the proper build to their conclusions isn’t done with certainty or direction. It feels like some stories simply end, while some just fade away. Regardless, the overall climax of the film feels unfinished and will leave you scratching your head wondering, “Is that it?”
I truly felt like the opportunity for a strong payoff by the end was missed. The story had built a beautiful act one and two, but act three simply didn’t do it justice. I wanted all the villains to get their proper ending, but it never truly feels like they got it. There were some definite endings, but nothing that said they got what they deserved.
Anyway, The Casual Vacancy is certainly worthy of a go, but it needed a bit more resounding ‘umph’ to make it a worthy mini-series that added yet another feather in J.K. Rowling’s successful writing cap. It certainly showed she had some range with her writing, though. That’s a very bright spot.
The Blu-ray side of this release certainly brought its ‘A’ game to equation. The quality of the HD transfer was amazing, though I would expect nothing less from the BBC or Warner Home Video. The colors, shots and picture quality was nothing short of brilliant. It was damn near perfect most of the time. You will be satisfied with the Blu-ray transfer on this one.
As for the special features, here’s what you’re looking at:
– An Introduction to The Casual Vacancy
– Adapting The Casual Vacancy
– Casting The Casual Vacancy
Solid features to go with a decent mini-series. Lots of good stuff in this lot.