Sessions with Harlan Coben's Lazarus

Suspense and the hint of supernatural combine as Dr Joel Lazarus strives to find the real reason behind the recent death of his father and the the murder of his twin sister that happened in his younger age.

Traumatising him very early in his life, the murder of his sister had scarred Joel deeply and a closure to the incident was all that he could wish for. Alas, the murder remained a mystery as well as the murderer.

But as the forensic psychiatrist in Joel tried to cope with his trauma later in his life, the world once again seemed to unhinge around him with the sudden suicide of his father, Dr L, a practicing psychiatrist of repute and the inspiration for Joel. As the police tried to close his father's death as suicide, the son had his own apprehension. Added to this were dreaded revelations from queer quarters. There seemed to be links to the murder of his sister as well. But as Joel Lazarus approaches the truth by unveiling the layers of mist that surrounds, grim twists await ahead that takes a toll on the mind as well.

With a thrill that can only be felt as the series nears the finale, the disappointing slow pace of the episodes causes a mar to the interesting theme. However, the season offers a few interesting facets. The title corresponding to any particular episode is designed in a sequence of numbers of a college course, thus keeping the essence of psychological drama alive without a hint of what might happen but ensuring that they essentially unfold the subject much like the chapters of a book. The other aspect is the music by Sarah Warne and her directing 'The Windmills of your Mind' cover by Rumer that keeps the theme resonating throughout with the melody that hypnotises with a calmly poignant appeal.

MobLand Melee

Fabulous, terrifying, dark and gripping!

A tale of epic madness!

A brutal saga of blood and gore!

A platter worth of guilty pleasure!

As the child of a mob lord goes missing, tension rises between two crime families and a war is imminent. Any chance of peace is thwarted by the steady undercurrent of enmity that reigns supreme between the rival parties. The inherent craze for the ultimate control adds to the thirst to avenge. Events lead to war that seems to wipe all who stands in the way!

A lie is elaborately staged..... but is seen through, a delicate truce is offered..... but is quickly broken, alliances are forged..... and wreaked, the rats inside are chased for their lives..... and carnage continues.

The creator in Ronan Bennett scripts as well with Jez Butterworth that keeps the drama supreme with loaded yet crisp dialogues. The chilling and dark tone is maintained right through the haunting melody of the opening theme by Ilan Eshkeri and Matt Bellamy.

Performing with the correct blend of craziness and character, is Pierce Brosnan as the mob boss, on the verge of senility, yet hungry for the ultimate control. Synching a notch too high, is the enticingly evil play of Helen Miren in a show of superb insentivity. Balancing the bitterness with his surprise humour, Emmet J Scanlan masks a cruel character in a brilliant show of comedy in every opportunity that arises. But, the centre stage is for Tom Hardy, with impeccable acting, confident gait and with the least predictable demeanour in all types of situations that effectively ushers a sense of foreboding and appeal, at every scene that he treads. Actually, the inherent heart of the series, the finale of the season has the character pinned in a cliffhanger event, essentially promising a required sequel that will again be much awaited with apprehension and eagerness!