Bulletproof (2018-Present)

*Disclaimer: Bulletproof was always a show I was wanting to like more than I did, because the copaganda elements were cranked up to 11, but I was rooting for it for the sake of Noel Clarke and Ashley Walters creating their own opportunities as Black actors in British television. After the allegations against Noel Clarke came out, he made some noise about his work to bring greater diversity to the industry, and that’s very true. He did that. But he also created a lot of toxic set environments for women and sexually harassed numerous colleagues over the years, and working to champion diversity doesn’t “negate” being a predator. As someone who’s a talented actor and who has advocated so much for better roles for BIPOC, it was really disappointing to find out that Clarke has used those very opportunities he’s created for himself to harass women.*

I caught this British buddy-cop drama over the summer when I found out that the CW had aired it and the first two seasons were available streaming on its website. I liked Noel Clarke from Doctor Who, and I wanted to check him out in a starring role in a show that he co-created. And Bulletproof has a lot going for it, a lot that I really like. However, it also has a number of qualities that just don’t work for me, leaving me with somewhat mixed-bag impressions.

Pike and Bishop are police officers in London, working as partners in an organized crime unit. Both are intelligent and brave and bring a lot of skills to the table, but both also have a, shall we say, permeable interpretation of the rules. The pair chase down crime families and unravel conspiracies side by side, trying to balance work on the force with their personal lives.

We’ll start with the biggest elephant in the room. This is 100% a “maverick cops play by their own rules” show, through and through. Pike and Bishop are the main offenders, but everyone in their unit is seen repeatedly violating civil liberties and using force as a first line of defense, and that’s uncomfortable to watch. One particular cringe moment comes when, in the middle of a bust on a drug lab, Bishop puts a suspect in a carotid hold, urging him to “go to sleep” until he loses consciousness. But honestly, it’s all over the series (and very American-feeling, by the way. By the end of the first episode, I was thinking, “There’s no way British police shoot this many suspects.” I looked it up, and they average more like 3-6 per year. Pretty sure the show knocked that out within the first two episodes at most.)

I do want to point out that, as an organized crime unit, most of the people these officers are shooting at/beating up are in turn shooting at/beating up them – we’re not seeing them pull this shit on routine traffic stops or anything – but obviously, it does play into this notion of the heroes cops “bending” the rules to put the dangerous bad guys behind bars. Also, Bulletproof is far from the only show/film/whatever that does this. A lot of people have been reexamining the cop genre lately, and some the superhero genre well, and it’s clear that a ton of shows contribute to that kind of “copaganda.” Hell, lately I’ve been rewatching The Fosters, and it’s gross that an arc in the first season is devoted what poor Mike goes through after he shoots a suspect on duty. For me, Bulletproof just has the unfortunate distinction of being the first show I’ve come into as a new viewer since I started really looking at that sort of thing with a critical eye. As such, the fact that the two lead cops are Black doesn’t negate what they do on the job, and as fun and audacious as some of the actions scenes are (so many car chases, hehe,) it’s harder to enjoy them when you think about it on that level.

Which is too bad, because like I said, the show has some really good stuff going for it – namely, Noel Clarke as Bishop and Ashley Walters as Pike. Both are them are terrific in their respective roles, shifting fluidly from comedy to drama to action and always playing fantastically off of each other. If you look at their characters apart from the issue I mentioned above, I like that they’re smart and capable but both have a tendency to make stupid, impulsive decisions. They’re flawed people who are allowed to be complicated, and similarly, while their relationship is very close, it’s not impervious, and they have moments where one or both nears their breaking point with one another. I really enjoy watching them rib each other on the job, execute a coordinated plan, share family meals together (Pike has a wife and kids, and bachelor Bishop is an honorary member of the family,) or comfort one another after a hard day.

Clarke especially is really, really good here. Even though, again, I liked him a lot as Mickey on Doctor Who, this show demonstrates how Who only scratched the surface of what he can do as an actor. The storylines can be hit or miss – some are exciting and suspenseful, others feel like they’re trying too hard – but Clarke always keeps you watching, waiting to see how Bishop will react. And by the way, this show is basically made of Who alum, with much of the main cast peppered with actors who made one-shot appearances on Who. We’ve got Walters himself, who was one of the scavenger brothers in “Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS,” and the police unit also includes Lindsey Coulson (“Midnight,”) Christina Chong (Lorna Bucket from “A Good Man Goes to War,”) and Mandip Dhillon (“Knock Knock.”) Every time I thought, “Where have I seen you before?”, the answer was Doctor Who. For good measure, the show also features Lashana Lynch (Maria Rambeau in Captain Marvel,) Gina Bellman (Jane from Coupling,) and Clarke Peters (Freamon from The Wire.) Side note: before this show, I had no idea that Peters was British. I don’t know why that surprised me so much, since The Wire also starred Idris Elba and Dominic West, but I wasn’t expecting it at all.

Warnings

Lots of violence (including police brutality,) language, sexual content, drinking/smoking/drug use, and thematic elements.