NBC Peacock, the 370th streaming service to debut in the past 12 months, will publicly launch on July 15 after an Xfinity-exclusive soft launch earlier this year. That means its time to review the services exclusive series—though in the case of The Capture, one of Peacocks most captivating launch options, that “exclusivity” is regional.
Unlike Peacock offerings like Brave New World and Intelligence, The Capture is an import for American viewers, having already aired on the online-only BBC Three in autumn 2019. But its still decidedly current: a mystery thriller that revolves around deepfake technology and government distrust.
Due process versus “real” videos
Holliday Grainger shows us how to make staring at security camera footage more compelling in her performance as DI Rachel Carey. NBC Peacock / BBC Callum Turner as Shaun Emery in The Capture's pilot episode. NBC Peacock / BBC Chances are, a security camera is watching Grainger here. NBC Peacock / BBC Ron Perlman steals his every scene as token American Frank Napier. NBC Peacock / BBC
By turns enthralling and suspenseful, The Capture is the sort of show one could easily binge in an afternoon. (In fitting BBC fashion, the series first season runs a lean six episodes.) It stars Holliday Grainger (Strike) as DI Rachel Carey, an SO15 officer on loan to Homicide & Serious Crime, who finds herself embroiled in the case of former Lance Corporal Shaun Emery, played by Callum Turner (Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald).
Like many popular British imports, The Capture is a police procedural—in this case, one with counterterrorism overtones. Emery, who just got acquitted of murdering an unarmed Taliban insurgent during his tour in Afghanistan, is accused of kidnapping his barrister, Hannah Roberts (Laura Haddock), after she refused to go home with him after celebrating his release. The case seems open and shut—the abduction was videotaped on a well-lit street and facial-recognition software positively identifies both parties. But Emery is perplexed by the charges, and when hes shown the security cam footage, he begins to freak out. This very believable-looking video is not him. This incident did not happen.
The manipulated footage leads down rabbit holes into a vast network of government plots. Its quite a feat how the show turns this conceit into a conspiracy thrill ride, especially when so many plot points continuously return to people standing around watching events on CCTV (you know, the high-tech version of watching paint dry). The technology has been omnipresent in British life; London has been referred to as “the most-watched city in the world,” a claim The Capture repeats in its first episode. But the series focuses its attention more sternly on the rising, real-world issue of “deepfake videos,” in which computer-generated imagery can make people appear to say and do things that never happened.
Topical
The Capture arrives at a moment when criticism of police procedurals is growing. The good news is this series focuses on the corruption behind the badge—and when government forces bend the concept of “justice” to their whims. That angle transforms in The Capture thanks to its deepfake story angle: why demand due process if the video footage can create whatever evidence is necessary to convict? Without spoiling some of the twists, I will say that the show takes a clever path to explaining away both how and why faked videos are used; the episode revealing how its all done is the series highlight. And the answers turn out to be just as much about government, bureaucracy, and state forces going some morally iffy routes in their aim to do “good” for the world as it is about this technology.
But The Capture is not without controversy. By the end, the series seems to sympathize with at least one government position, claiming the ends justify the means. Though the production understands deepfakes have the power to change the world, it wants us to believe this technology in government hands isnt something we, the good people, need to worry about.
One reason The Capture works as well as it does is the gripping performances by Turner and Grainger. Granigers DI Carey has to do most of the heavy lifting here, attempting to find evidence that proves a time- and date-stamped section of CCTV footage didnt actually happen, only to turn around and find that every time she sits down to watch something happening live, it doesnt match up with what those on the scene are telling her. As the patsy in this scheme, Turners character also spends much of the season questioning his own perception of reality—though his best moments come once he does find out the truth and has to conRead More – Source
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