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Red Eye refers to a type of plane journey, but almost starts with Richard Armitage, as Dr Matthew Nolan, having rather red eyes, as he causes consternation in Beijing, and then crashes is car in horrendous rain. You’d think he might’ve set his speed according to the weather. However, the way he was standing in the middle of the road, felt like it was shot at the same time as some of his scenes in Fool Me Once.
He’s also a vascular surgeon, so he’s a doctor, but not THE Doctor. Ooh, could he replace Ncuti Gatwa? No such luck.
I’ll keep this spoiler-free with regards to outcomes, and to start, when Nolan’s interrogated at the airport, ridiculously roughly, I would like to think that the police wouldn’t be so rough. However, he’s being accused of being responsible for a dead woman in his car, even though we never see that so, is it a fit-up, guv?
The plot dictates a load of blah about this situation causing a diplomatic row between the UK and China, and how it’ll affect a nuclear deal. Well, that’s a potential side plot that’s quickly forgotten about.
Detective Constable Hana Li… yep, DC Li – instantly making me think of singer and Paul Weller’s other half, DC Lee – is being sent off to Beijing to look into this, even though she was born in Hong Kong and hasn’t lived there since she was five. Still, thankfully, this means we finally get a lead role for the stunning Jing Lusi, and it’s been a long time coming, as she’s awesome.
She’s tasked with escorting Nolan back to Beijing, and is immediately prejudiced against him, because he’s white, so she clearly skipped her equality training.
Plus, four people on the last plane in are also asked for them to return to the same city to give testimony, immediately. Couldn’t they just do that remotely?
Dumb things that I’ve seen so far:
- It throws in a cliche of him running away, with her giving chase, even though they’re in an airport which is riddled with CCTV, and the security could’ve stopped him instantly. Is this The Fugitive? Are we also going to get a man with a dodgy arm? What about Armitage jumping out of a big drainpipe with a waterfall?
- There’s also some ‘cliffhangers’ right before an ad break which are so cliched, they just made me laugh, plus other similar moments you can spot coming a mile off.
- Plus, in episode 2, how come it’s pitch black on the plane one moment, and the next it’s bright sunshine outside?
- At another point in what I’ve seen so far, there’s the age-old cliche that when you see a dead body, you can close their eyelids by simply putting your hands over their eyes. They’re dead. The reflex ability to be able to open AND close them is gone. They will stay open, without medical intervention.
- After a suggestion is made, one character uses the line, “I’ll take that under advisement” – No character outside of a US drama says that!
- An individual doesn’t lock their computer screen when leaving their desk, leaving anyone who matters to have easy access to it. Come on, now, that’s just lazy scriptwriting.
So far, this is the daftest TV drama of the year. And I’ve seen Channel 5’s Love Rat! However, like The Cuckoo, I can’t take my eyes off it.
And, I’ll still watch for Jing Lusi… But I just hope she lightens up a bit. She looks forever serious and upset, as if her VCR missed the finale of Eldorado, and now she’ll never know if Pilar and Marcooos had a happy ending!
Red Eye continues next Sunday on ITV at 9pm, and airs weekly. The whole series is already online at ITVX, but is not yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD.
Director: Kieron Hawkes
Producers: Kristian Dench, Julie Gardner, Letitia Knight
Writer: Jingan Young
Creator: Peter A Dowling
Music: Ian Arber
Cast:
Dr. Matthew Nolan: Richard Armitage
DC Hana Li: Jing Lusi
Director General Delaney: Lesley Sharp
Jess Li: Jemma Moore
Steven Hurst: Oliver Maltman
Toni Zhang: Dan Li
Len Delaney: Kevan MacKenzie
Ruth Banks: Cash Holland
Mrs. Ruan Yue: Daphne Cheung
Policeman: Arron Long
Tiffany Songyun: Xiangyi Tan
Co-Pilot Wu: Aidan Cheng
Ren Yunxi: Tai Yin Chan
Shen: Elaine Tan
Minister Tang: David KS Tse
Simon King: Robert Gilbert
Dr. Chris Peele: Rick Warden
Jenkins: Chris Anderson
Sir George Chapman: Peter Guinness
Cohen: Maria Rivera
Ayesha: Natasha Patel
Doyle: Jack Colgrave Hirst
John Tennant: Jonathan Aris
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.