Atomic

At just five episodes, it feels lean and never boring.

It can still be enjoyed as a breakneck, Guy-Ritchie-esque drug-caper-cum-buddy-movie, if you want. But Atomic brings with it that ineffable pleasure caused by watching something that someone took just one or two extra passes over, to give its audience an experience just a bit better than you were expecting, just that bit better than it needed to be.

We’re giving Atomic a mild recommendation because there might be enough chasing through various Northern African locations to make the show a visual treat, and we’re curious about the dynamic between Max and JJ. But it also feels like show that might repeat itself too much as the two men run around with those satchels of plutonium.

A drama that is, for the most part, relentlessly and mind-numbingly violent and shallow. To be fair, the two leads deliver decent performances and should be praised at least for keeping a straight face, especially with lines like, “Thank you for not killing me.”

The story moves at a decent clip, but it ought to feel much more plausible considering its roots in reality. It would seem that all the series’ good ideas have been defused long before it reached the screen.