As if I wasn't paranoid enough about getting into a car accident, Collision did a good job of convincing me that every single person on the road except for me is FREAKING INSANE and not to be trusted.
Collision, which aired on Masterpiece Contemporary the last two weeks, takes us into the fascinating world of... a traffic accident. Yeah, I didn't exactly find the premise gripping, either. But Ruth from Booktalk & More assured me that it was really good (check out her review), so I decided to give it a run on the ol' DVR. And, as usual, she was right!
Okay, so here's the run-down: a bunch of cars are in this huge pile up on the A-something-or-other, which I'm guessing is like the British version of an interstate. And every single person in this crash has something suspicious going on in their lives, and half of the people are murdered! It might even be a higher percentage than that. And yummy yummy Douglas Henshall (oh, Cutter, I missed you so {{{hugs}}}) has to sort through all this crap to find out what caused the accident, and meanwhile his ex-luvah is in charge, and his boss keeps going, "Why haven't you solved this thing yet??? You only have one more day!"
Usually the multiple-storylines-thing annoys me, but somehow Collision managed to completely suck me into all the characters' lives. I think the pacing of the revelations about their lives had a lot to do with it--the idea that all of these people have progressively bigger secrets is patently ridiculous, but I loved learning about them, and was completely willing to suspend any disbelief.
I'm not going to go through all the characters' storylines, but I do want to recount my favorite, which involved a young woman named Jane Tarrant. Jane works at the gas station, but longs for bigger and better things. Yet how can she break out of her rut? After the crash, a rich old guy (well, older) comes into the gas stop and starts crushing on Jane. Then he asks her out for a drink, and btw he's married, and oh haha Jane's actually engaged to some bloke who wants to get married in a pub (uhg). But why don't you go to this art exhibition with me, baby? Wellll, let's just say, he's rich and he loves art. *fans self* Of course, it's Kandinsky, but hey, I can put up with that. And so, apparently, can Jane, who agrees to go to Paris with him, breaks up with her fiance, and quits her job. But will Richy Richard leave his wife for a gas station employee? Oh please oh please say yes, because that would be totally cool.
Um, anyway. Aside from that guy, the other men in this show are NOT SMOOTH. Henshall trying to get back together with his ex-luvahrrrr was totally awkward. Despite that, though, I highly recommend this show. And I believe you can still watch it online at PBS.com.
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