TV Review: Single-Handed
Originally published at Grasping for the Wind. Please leave any comments there.
Actors: Owen McDonnell, David Herlihy, Ruth McCabe, Simone Lahbib, Sean McGinley
Writers: Barry Simner, Rob Pursey
Number of discs: 3
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Acorn Media
DVD Release Date: February 1, 2011
Run Time: 278 minutes
An Irish cop (known as a garda) fights corruption all alone on the west coast of Ireland in Single-Handed, a prosaically named but extremely riveting series.
Garda Sergeant Jack Driscoll (Owen McDonnell) returns to the town of his birth after falling afoul of superiors in Dublin in some unspecified way. When he returns home, he finds that this small town was not the idyll he may once have thought it, but a seething den of petty jealousies, cover-ups, and pragmatism that offends his sense of justice.
Jack Driscoll isn’t perfect by any stretch. He makes hard decisions, and over the course of the three episodes of the first set released in the US by Acorn Media, he changes from a self-righteous champion and paladin into a more equitable, far-thinking man. Though he is far from the pragmatism and selfishness of his father (his predecessor in the post, played by Ian McElhinney) he has layers of ambiguity, moving from holy crusader to honest and fair lord of his fiefdom over the course of the series. Well-played by the understated but effective actor Owen McDonnell, Jack Driscoll becomes a character in which the viewer truly invests.
The stories themselves are quite tragic. Set on the windswept seacoast of Western Ireland, the dark tales reflect the windswept and empty nature of the landscape, something the writers and directors have used to great effect. There is little lightheartedness to these tales.
The first story, and Jack’s first case, is entitled “Natural Justice”. When an female Eastern European immigrant’s body is found dead in a trailer, Jack suspects murder rather than suicide. Digging deep into the past (as everyone else in the village, including his father, attempt to sabotage him) he discovers dark secrets long-buried. Meanwhile, he draws close to the young niece of the local property developer, who coincidentally owned the trailer where the young immigrant’s body was found. When it was discovered she was pregnant, Driscoll’s investigation only gets more difficult. The reveal at the end of this episode will make your skin crawl.
In the “Stolen Child,” Driscoll takes it upon himself to investigate the disappearance of a young child after the other authorities and his superiors give up. Starting from the point of view that it was a kidnap by parent (the child’s parents were separated) Driscoll soon finds the dirty underbelly of village life, and the final conclusion is surprising yet self-evident, if you see the clues. Caroline Catz (Doc Martin) guest stars as the local doctor and Driscoll’s latest flame.
The final episode of the three disc set is “The Drowning Man.” Driscoll gets a call late at night that a man is drowning on a beach. Racing there to save him, poor Jack arrives only to have the 17-year-old boy expire in his arms. Full of fury, Driscoll sets off to discover why the boy was out in a small carach in the middle of the night. This leads him to a world of drugs, family ties, and dirty cops. As if that wasn’t enough, an old lover appears and makes advances, though Driscoll is savvy enough to see that something’s up. Jack’s love life and his work get royally tangled up in this final, complex, nuanced mystery.
For a completely one-character-driven series, Single-Handed is surprisingly enveloping. I was lost in each of these 93 minute episodes, bound up by the beauty of the landscape, the harshness of both landscape and citizenry, and the doggedness of Sergeant Jack Driscoll. Many plotlines interweave in and amongst each other, excellent performances make the characters deep and fascinating, and the subtle directing keeps the stories flowing smoothly and engrossingly. There is no doubt that as dark and operatic as these stories were, I’d love to see more of them. Viewers who like Wire in the Blood or NYPD Blue will enjoy Single-Handed.