Full Circle is a strange show, and I'm still not sure what I think of it. I have to say that Clare Danes irritates me somewhat - after Homeland, the first few series that I enjoyed, I can't help but see the same kind of character shining through - anxious, neurotic, humourless, and that assessment didn't leave at all as I watched.

It's directed by Steven Soderbergh, who has quite the credits, as we know - especially with the Oceans 11 series. So again, I wanted to like this. The plot synopis goes like this:

An investigation into a botched kidnapping uncovers long-held secrets connecting multiple characters and cultures in present-day New York City.

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Like my last review of 'The Beast Must Die', there's a theme of money being able to cover up anything and social inquity, and a glossy surface where seedy underside must out. In the first episode, a kidnapping of a boy as a redress for a past event and to lift a curse goes wrong, scratching at the veneer of a family's successful life in New York.

The detective, unfortunately named Melody Harmony, begins to make connections between a Guyanese criminal group to the family, is an interesting character who grates on the view for her boundary crossing, but I liked this, because if we're irked, it's played well. We don't always have to like the main characters on our screens, and if they have any kind of effect on us, they're doing a good job.

I also liked the minor characters who are trying to survive in America making money as well as surviving the criminal world in which they become interwined. The Guyanese patois is great and it's really good to see this culture, or part of it, on screen, as it's rare enough. The idea of a ritual to unlock a curse is also really interesting. But to explain anymore starts to get to the root of why I didn't particularly get along with this show - it's too jarring, too disparate, too fragmented, too confusing for my liking, and whilst I like putting together a plot and doing some work as a viewer, this frustrated me, making me feel like it was the director's fault rather than mine.

I felt as if this was trying to do something important, and there's certainly a few names in there that would make people watch it - Timothy Olyphant, Dennis Quaid, Jerrall Jerome) but ultimately it missed the mark with me. I found myself doing other things as I watched it, like catching up with comments on HIVE.

The final scenes were also nothing to write home about. It's no plot spoiler to say here that if you're white and rich, the consequences aren't as impactful as being black and poor.

Interesting, but forgettable.
⭐⭐^1/2
2.5 stars