Sigh, the holidays are over. It’s back to work. Back to school. And back to routine, basically.
Hopefully, 2023 will be kinder to everyone, especially during these horrendous stages of load shedding. Of course, as a default, we can always trust our streaming options to help chase away some of the blues.
I recently watched “Kaleidoscope” and was fascinated by the crime anthology series that has been lauded by streamers.
In my naiveté, I watched it as I do every other series. But, with this show, there is no need to do that. The eight-episode offering, which is distinguished by different colours, charts a specific timeline in the heist saga.
To help a little, here’s a quick overview of the time frame, broken down by episode: Yellow (6 weeks before the heist), Green (7 years before the heist), Blue (5 days before the heist), Orange (3 weeks before the heist), Violet (24 years before the heist), Red (the morning after the heist), Pink (6 months after the heist) and White (the heist).
The intro, titled “Black”, offers a quick overview of the heist, which was over two decades in the making, with every episode being a piece of the puzzle.
The beauty of this series is that you can watch the episodes in any order and, in this way, you will arrive at a different conclusion.
Of course, the series stays true to the core points of engagement in the build-up to the climax: engaging characters, a solid script and deft direction.
It’s no different to the intrigue provided by shows like “Lupin”, “The Money Heist”, “Leverage: Redemption” and “The Endgame”, for that matter.
“Kaleidoscope” is loosely inspired by a true-life story, where a secure establishment was relieved of $70 billion in downtown Manhattan during Hurricane Sandy.
In this offering, two former friends, who were, literally, thick as thieves, part ways after a tragedy occurs in one of their robberies.
This led to a distraught Leo Pap, aka Ray Vernon (Giancarlo Esposito), forging ahead in life with his daughter Hannah Kim (née Vernon), played by Tati Gabrielle, raised by someone else.
Meanwhile, his partner Roger Salas, aka Graham Davies (Rufus Sewell), goes legit and runs an elite security company known as “SLS”.
Unbeknownst to Roger, his trusted head of digital security is also the daughter of his now nemesis.
It is the tragedy that becomes the catalyst in Leo plotting a $7bn heist, relieving three of the most powerful and richest people in the world of their bearer bonds.
Leo recruits a motley crew of talented individuals, each with a unique skill set that is needed to pull off a job of his magnitude.
Ava Mercer (Paz Vega) is a weapons specialist and also happens to be a lawyer, so she is well-versed in finding those loopholes. Judy Goodwin (Rosaline Elbay), an explosives specialist, is a package deal with her husband Bob (Jai Courtney), who is a safecracker with the bedside manner of a grizzly bear.
Then there is Stan Loomis (Peter Mark Kendall), who Leo befriended in prison. Stan also carries a torch for Judy.
As with most plans of this nature, there are external factors that come into play.
In this case, it is Nazan Abbasi (Niousha Noor), an unrelenting FBI agent, and her partner Samuel Toby (Bubba Weiler).
The storyline plays out in a very slick and sophisticated way. The writers also interweave the emotions that stem from the different relationships and the upsets that creep up, including racism.
It taps into the fractured bond between Leo and his daughter Hannah, who finds out she is pregnant. Luckily, her ride-or-die room-mate Liz Kim (Soojeong Son) has her back.
Amid the how, where and when of the heist, streamers also ache for the characters as they brave personal conflicts and challenges.
The settling of scores has never been this compelling as friends become strangers and strangers become friends. There is a sense of “family” in a “Fast & Furious” kind of way.
“Kaleidoscope” offers a compelling serving of love, betrayal, greed, outmanoeuvring and corruption. That said, it is one of those shows that you either love or loathe.
“Kaleidoscope” is streaming on Netflix.