Vigil Season 1 (2021) Review

Vigil has been the biggest show in the UK the last few weeks and today I decided to watch all 6 episodes of it and here is my review for the sure. The premise of the show sees a detective sent to a submarine when a death of a crewman takes place. 

Main Character

Suranne Jones plays the lead character here and she is really good in her role. She is clearly really good at her job and you see how the affect of being on this submarine really affects her compared to the crewman. You learn more about her character as the show progresses and it makes her an interesting role and very challenging role for Jones. 

Supporting Characters

The entire cast are fantastic, Rose Leslie plays her partner who is investigating a slightly different angle on land. She is really good in her role and I thought she managed to elevate certain material and make it better then it had any right to be. Though they don't share too much screen time together Jones and Leslie are really good together and have really good chemistry. There are so many crewman played by really talented actors that I won't go into depth about them but Martin Compston, Shaun Evans, Paterson Joseph, Adam James & Connor Swindells are all great. They have meaty roles and they do plenty to drive the narrative in the sub. Stephane Dillane also does a good job as the guy in charge of the navy and you see how he has to deal with the circumstances that are at play. 

Story

The story is good, it does a really effective job of dragging you into its narrative and making you care. There are cliff-hangers a plenty and plenty of suspects that could be guilty of foul play, it achieves this well by creating interesting personalities and people. But the show does end up feeling a little flat with its ending and sometimes it becomes a bit confusing and illogical with its overall story. 

Script

The script is effective, it is obviously really serious but it works for the situation that these characters are in at pretty much all times in this submarine. It feels really intense and there are so many characters that have something to hide that the intrigue is done really well. 

Style 

The show is shot really well, the submarine looks really great and I thought the claustrophobic feeling of the sub delivered and made the whole atmosphere be on a knife edge no matter what was going on. But I think the show has a bit too slow a pacing at times and I think maybe there could have been an episode left which would have made it a more condensed but effective watch. 

Overall 

Overall, Vigil is a great show that will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout and keep you guessing as to what is going to happen next. 

Rating - 8/10