There’s a very good chance you’ve never heard of Liaison, Apple TV+’s new British-French co-produced thriller series. Like Echo 3, it’s another high production value, low shits-given TV show that the streaming service seems adept at developing. Unlike Echo 3, however, I actually didn’t know anything about Liaison before watching it; it was a complete mystery to me. That made the prospect of viewing its six-episode first season all the more exciting, especially after discovering that Vincent Cassel and Eva Green co-lead it. Also, French entertainment media is generally top-notch, at least to me. All in all, there are ample reasons for anyone to be intrigued by this show, and perhaps that’s why I was so disappointed by it. Don’t get me wrong, there’s satisfying stuff permeating every installment of Liaison, but simultaneously, there’s a truckload of asinine nonsense.

When cyberterrorists launch a series of attacks on London’s digitally-controlled infrastructure, Home Minister Richard Banks (Peter Mullan), tasks his right-hand woman, Alison Rowdy (Eva Green), to find the culprits. Meanwhile, the head of a French private security company, Dumas (Gérard Lanvin), dispatches his best operative, Gabriel Delage (Vincent Cassel), to Syria in order to safeguard two Syrian hackers who’ve stolen top secret info from Assad’s web servers. When it becomes clear that the Syrian hack may uncover who’s behind the attacks in England, Gabriel is put on a collision course with Alison, who turns out to be an old flame who’s never gotten over him. This past relationship ends up complicating matters, or at least, I wouldn’t blame you if you’d assume it would.

As compelling as that premise might sound, it requires a screenwriter who’s willing to take risks and capitalize on it. Every episode of Liaison is written by Virginie Brac, a prolific veteran of French television, who is clearly trying to create something that’s riveting without being disagreeable. While making riveting content is assuredly a good thing, avoiding the disagreeable is not. Take the cyberterrorist attacks, for example, which you’d expect to be costly. After all, one of them results in two passenger trains colliding head on with each other, which should be a mass-casualty event. Oddly, though, Liaison finds a way to make it seem like it’s no big deal – just a few cuts and bruises. This made me pause and think, really? If I were in creative control, I would’ve made this sequence pure carnage. It’s not because I’m a sicko, but because without that graphic consequence, the attack seems more like an inconvenience than what the show asserts it to be, a momentous catastrophe. It’s actually like this with all of the cyberterrorism on this show, seriously damaging the plot’s urgency.*

Based on how Liaison plays out, it’s apparent that much of Brac’s focus is on portraying the problematic entanglement of Gabriel and Alison. Before I critique this part of the story, I need to emphasize how good Cassel and Green are in this series. Their chemistry makes their characters’ intimate history believable, and together, they make this show eminently watchable. Nevertheless, to say that I wanted more from their romantic subplot is an understatement. Early on, I found the mystery of their connection absorbing. The implication that Gabriel is like catnip for Alison, and that his reappearance might affect Alison personally and professionally at the worst possible time, is tantalizing. Things get even more interesting when it’s suggested that perhaps it’s Alison who might actually be the troublesome one. The simple idea that Gabriel and Alison are toxic for one another really works, especially within the confines of a spy thriller. Unfortunately, once the cause of their breakup twenty years prior is revealed, the allure of their entanglement fades.** When it comes to their love affair, it would’ve been better had the show veered more toward erotic thriller than romantic drama. After all, in an erotic thriller, the “why” is less important, and things are way less clean. Again, a bit of messy and uncomfortable would’ve really helped this series.

Other than Cassel and Green, the main thing that keeps Liaison diverting is how well it’s shot. Stephen Hopkins skillfully directs all six episodes, demonstrating his grasp on scene geography and propulsive thrills. The show also just looks tremendous in 4K, giving it a film-level quality. For many, those high-end visuals, combined with its renowned actors and cyber-related suspense, will be enough.*** They were for the person I watched it with, who really enjoyed it. I’ll admit that it’s never boring, but I would’ve preferred something more challenging and sharply written. To put it bluntly: I wanted more sex and violence. I mean, this series is French, for crying out loud! Okay fine, half-French, but my point holds. A series like this needs to throw punches, not pull them.

If I had to score it, I’d give season one of Liaison a 5/10.

Notes:

* It also didn’t help that the dialogue, especially in Eva Green’s half of the story, was full of clichéd, tech-related dialogue. It didn’t matter how many times the British characters said words like “hack” or “network”, I never believed any of them had any actual technical know-how. This is perhaps because Virginie Brac is not a computer expert, or maybe it’s due to her not being a native English speaker. Either way, the dialogue could’ve stood to be more complex and organic.

** [SPOILER] The romance subplot builds up to one key moment involving an old VHS recording of a protest that Gabriel and Alison participated in when they were young activists. Gabriel watching this VHS tape was meant to illuminate to him, and to us viewers, what Alison did that obliterated their relationship. Sadly, and somewhat hilariously, the footage used on the show is distractingly dreadful. It’s poorly shot, badly edited, and features terrible effects. Given that this VHS scene was so crucial to the story, you’d think they’d make sure to get it right. Instead, it’s so shoddy that it diminishes the entire subplot, or at least, it did for me.

*** The supporting cast of Liaison is crazy deep, featuring the aforementioned Mullan and Lanvin, but also Irène Jacob and Eriq Ebouaney. It’s a bummer how underutilized these actors are here, but at least their presence lends credibility to the show’s lesser subplots.