Falcón

Falcón is based on British author Robert Wilson’s Javier Falcón novels and was adapted for the small screen in 2012. The first two adaptations of the novel series translate to the small screen in The Blind Man of Seville and The Silent and The Damned. The series stars Marton Csokas (Lord of the Rings trilogy) as the titular anti-hero of the series (a mash up between Javier Bardem and Jeffrey Dean Morgan).

First and foremost, these two features are not for the light of heart. Gore, heavy sexuality, drug use, and a very dirty noir style backdrop that gives the features flair and grit to capture you and immerse you in Falcón’s Spain.

Falcón is a seedy type; divorced, hardly over his first wife and in an awkward situation with his boss dating her, a drug user, a fractured mind, a man with secrets he both refuses to acknowledge and secrets so traumatizing he can’t seem to wrap his head around them, making them all together horrible mysteries he can’t ignore, but doesn’t want to approach. Unfortunately in both cases in these features Falcón’s cases end up intertwining in his own personal life.

In the first feature we find Falcón deep in a case that involves his deceased father, a famous painter, and a handful of murders that could have come straight from a readapted Strangers On A Train scenario if it were to be expanded, all forcing Falcón to face his demons head on in order to get a grip on the case.

In the second feature Falcón finds himself investigating a suicide pact which turns out to be more then meets the eye. Suspects include the Russian Mafia, an American couple, and a famous actor. To make matters worse more suicides pop up under Falcón’s watch and a forest fire burns brightly in the forests above the town causing even more chaos in the already blazing climate of Falcón’s world.

There are times when you’re just strung along in Falcón’s world. You find him making drop offs to drug dealers, ingesting drugs in some odd way I couldn’t fathom, night sweats caused by bad dreams, and of course the tough, suave, lady killer aspect that should never be missing from the noir genre that Falcón finds itself in. Completely dirty in its corrupt city perspective, but never boring. I highly recommend this series to fans of the Parker novels (which this reminded me of).