Do you remember that scene from Glass Onion where Benoit Blanc went on a rant to explain why he never suspected Miles Bron of committing murder? In Blanc’s mind, the deaths of Duke Cody and Andi Brand were the work of someone so diabolical that they could think ten steps ahead of one of the greatest detectives in the world. He was working under that presumption because Bron had created this illusion the people on that island were the smartest people alive. Whereas, the truth of the matter was that not only were all of them dumb as rocks, but they were also like a black hole of IQ, decreasing everybody’s ability to perceive the obvious, thereby making them think that Bron and his “disruptors” were geniuses. Once Blanc saw through this ruse, and he oversimplified the clues before him, the truth became apparent. I went on a similar journey with Steal. Initially, I thought that the show was so brilliant that it was going over my normie head. However, when it came to wrapping things up, I understood that it had Miles Bron-ed me. Is the show still worth a watch? Let’s find out.
Prime Video’ Steal, with the episodes being directed by Sam Miller and Hettie Macdonald, tells the story of Zara, who works at a pension fund investment company called Lochmill Capital. Her best friend and colleague is Luke. Both of them arrive at their office like they usually do, and while Luke goes to his workstation, Zara is tasked with teaching the newest intern, Myrtle, the ropes. Things seem to be going fine, but that’s when a team of robbers, who have distorted their facial features with the help of prosthetics, enters the facility and takes everyone hostage. Once the robbers have a proper hold on the situation, they select Zara and Luke to help them transfer 4 billion pounds into their account. And as soon as the transfer goes through, they leave, thereby traumatizing everyone, especially Zara and Luke. But that’s not the most shocking thing that happens to the duo, as, the following day, they find out about the surprise waiting for them in their bank accounts. While Zara manages to pull a veil over it, Luke doesn’t, which prompts DCI Rhys, DI Ellie, Financial Crimes Investigator Darren, and MI5’s Fitch to treat him like a co-conspirator in this heist. How will Zara prove his innocence while also figuring out the point of the heist? Well, that’s what forms the crux of the narrative.
Nikias and her writers’ priorities are so lopsided that even thinking about it makes me laugh. They spend 5 out of the 6 episodes on untangling the web of lies that has formed around the heist and dedicate just a couple of minutes to the mastermind explaining the point of the heist. So, you have about 5 hours of the dumbest people trying to figure out the truth even though it’s staring right in the face, and when you reach the climax, expecting some mind-boggling and cathartic conclusion, all you get is a hollow rant about idealism, capitalism, socialism, and whatnot. And the problem is that if we don’t see the consequences of this mastermind’s actions, all his prosaic words are just words. We don’t see the rich suffering in any way, instead, we follow a bunch of desperate working-class people doubting each other and going for one another’s jugular. If the point of the series was to show that we have become so divided that we can’t come together to take on our common enemy—the one percent that hoards our wealth—then this approach would have been acceptable. However, as explained by the mastermind, that wasn’t the show’s point at all. So, all I can do is go “Huh?!”
I understand that, much like working on any art form, writing a show is tough, especially if you intend to keep the audience on their toes throughout. And I would have given Steal a pass for doing such a shoddy job with its twists and turns if the characters and their interactions were interesting. Every character is a walking cliche, and every time they start talking to each other, my suppressed urge to go for the skip button keeps rising to the surface. There came a time when I started rooting for the robbers to just kill everyone and bring this painful ordeal to an end. In terms of the visuals, the show is a dud. I think Miller, Macdonald, and their team tried to illustrate the difference between the finance capital of London versus the locations where the normies reside. However, the use of that motif is so sparse (which isn’t helped by the shallow focus style of visual storytelling) that the directors fail to create a single memorable frame. The pacing is atrocious, because the directors are more hyper-focused on beating around the bush instead of using the show’s runtime to talk about anything substantial. The production design and set design are decent. The costumes are boring. Additionally, I found the score to be quite irritating.
The cast of Steal is very talented. Sophie Turner is, as usual, so expressive that it’s a shame the writing doesn’t give her the support that she needs. Archie Madekwe is great. Jacob Fortune-Lloyd is pretty impactful. Andrew Howard, Jonathan Slinger, Diana Bermudez, Spike Leighton, Yusra Warsama, Tomisin Ajani, and Charles Mnene are so good that I wish I got to see more of them. The same can be said about Ellie James, Caleb Obediah, Harry Michell, and Eloise Thomas. Andrew Koji is utterly wasted, though. If you have seen him in Warrior, you know how gifted he is. So, seeing him forced to work with a nothingburger of a role really angers me. As for the rest of the supporting cast, yeah, they are fine. There’s no doubt in my mind that they would have truly excelled if they were in the hands of better writers and directors. In case it’s not clear already, allow me to underscore the fact that the show is worth a watch just for the actors. If you are looking for some potent commentary on income inequality and cyber vigilantism, then this show is not worth your time. Just go and watch Glass Onion instead.
