Brought to you by Virgin Media.
The behaviour is anything but good.
Have you spent the last few years waiting for a Downton Abbey star to break bad and play a drug-addled thief caught up in a cycle of criminality? Well, Good Behavior is the show for you.
The first season will start broadcasting on be3 on 26 October so it seemed like a perfect time to see what it’s all about. Here’s everything you need to know about Good Behavior ahead of Thursday’s season premiere.
Who’s in it?
The show stars Michelle Dockery, who played Lady Mary Crawley in Downton Abbey and starred in Non-Stop with our own Liam Neeson (him of the finding people and killing them fame).
Is it a period drama?
Far from it! Dockery stars as a North Carolina con artist and thief. In one episode, we find her smoking meth in a motel room. That almost definitely didn’t happen in Downton.
So she’s a baddie?
It’s complicated. Sure, she steals and drinks and cons people out of money but there’s more to the character of Letty Raines than just what she does. She’s more of an anti-hero than a hero or a villain. She’s a complex, flawed character with problems and addictions but she’s also a decent person who tries to do the right thing – when she’s not stealing and conning people, of course.
What’s the show about?
The show revolves around Letty Raines, a borderline alcoholic who’s recently been released from prison. She’s drifted back into crime and, in fairness, she is a very good criminal. Credit where credit is due and all that. Things take a turn when she overhears a hitman planning to kill a man’s wife and decides to intervene. Actions have consequences and, in Lettie’s case, her actions cause her destiny to become entwined with that of the hitman.
Who else stars in the show?
Argentinian actor Juan Diego Botto stars as a hitman Javier, who looks like he just stepped out of a photoshoot for a men’s magazine. He’s also a dangerous and calculating killer, which you can’t say about most male models. Javier spots an opportunity when Letty stumbles into his life and he doesn’t give her much choice in the matter.
So he’s the baddie?
Again, it’s complicated. Admittedly, he’s a cold-blooded killer so that’s not exactly an endearing character trait. Still, just like Letty, there’s more to him than what he does. The characters in this show tend to be just like real people – not all good and not all bad. Although obviously, most real people don’t carry out hits on strangers.
It sounds very serious.
Sure, it’s a tense crime drama that looks at big themes so there are serious moments. Still, the two leads keep it balanced and brilliantly undercut the tension with plenty of well-placed black humour. Plus, the writers are not afraid to make an occasional childish joke and that that’s always going to get props from us.
So why should I watch it?
Dockery’s decision to ditch the corset to play a thieving, alcoholic junkie could have gone pear-shaped but she puts in an impressive performance in the role. Her character is a mess of contradictions but you start peeling away the layers as the show goes on. There’s also a real on-screen chemistry between Dockery and Botto and their barbed conversations are bristling with sharp humour.
What did they say about the first season?
“[T]he series, which is set (so far) in South Carolina and Tennessee, is first-class Southern noir; thick with atmosphere and weather and spreading the suspense around so that almost every character we meet seems either in danger or a danger.”
(LA Times)
“It’s one problem after another for these two, and there’s something enjoyably twisted and confident about the way Good Behavior unfolds as something better than a madcap crime spree or a shallow action-romance caper.”
(Washington Post)
Watch Good Behavior on be3 on Thursdays at 9pm from 26 October. Virgin TV customers can watch the complete boxset exclusively in Virgin TV On Demand.
Virgin TV customers can watch Good Behavior on the go by downloading the Virgin TV Anywhere app or catch it online here.
Brought to you by Virgin Media.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
