Ms. X review: quirky crime at its best

Over the last few years, New Zealand television has gone all-in on small stakes crime dramedies featuring middle-aged Australian women. It’s maybe not a big market, but it’s still impressive that with A Remarkable Place to Die (featuring Rebecca Gibney), Madam (starring Rachel Griffiths) and now Ms. X with Melissa George, they’ve well and truly cornered it. So does this latest effort maintain their high standards?

Stay-at-home Auckland mother of two Mia Bennett (George) has a problem. Well, she probably has more than one, considering when we first see her she’s hiding in a storage unit with a duffle bag full of cash and a gun. But that’s the now-standard introductory flash-forward to hook in viewers: two days earlier she’s just your typical suburban mum who suspects her husband of cheating on her.

Suburban snoop

After her husband’s had one too many nights spent ‘sleeping in the car’ after a boozy dinner with clients (stashing his wedding ring in a water bottle was a bit of a giveaway), Mia decides it’s time to take action. But first, she has to deal with the many dramas of her two high schoolers, plus host the local Neighbourhood Watch meeting, plus deal with the numerous bitchy parents at morning drop-off, plus handle a declined credit card.

Clearly, she’s got a lot on her plate, so getting this whole cheating husband thing sorted is a priority. Enter her old high school friend turned private eye (of sorts) Oscar Clarke (Dean O’Gorman). Reuniting over a fender-bender might not be the best way to kick things off, but his (dubious) skill set just might be the solution to her problem.

When he accidentally stumbles across some real evidence – seems her husband isn’t out at a conference but is staying at a hotel in town – it’s both his first real case and her big chance to find out what’s really going on. Just so long as Oscar doesn’t mess it up.

Odd couple detectives

Mia and Oscar are a strong comedy team straight out of the blocks. Mia is stressed, a little anxious, and clearly just hanging on by her fingernails; Oscar is the kind of smooth-talking doofus who’s been getting along by the seat of his pants since birth. Just checking up on a possibly cheating husband is already well beyond the abilities of either of them, and trying to scare her husband straight turns out to be… well, not the best move they could have come up with.

Slowly but surely (remember that opening scene) the pair find themselves drawn into the criminal underworld. Most of which is played straight here, which means the threats are real and the consequences deadly. And while Mia is in over her head at first, it turns out her regular suburban life – which is still going on and constantly making things more complicated than they need to be – is useful training for leading a life of crime.

After a few decades of quirky crime on both the big and small screen this isn’t exactly breaking new ground, but that doesn’t mean the formula isn’t rock solid. The crime side provides the suspense, the in-over-their-heads leads provide the comedy, the way the two worlds collide keeps things interesting, and so long as things keep moving forward at a rapid pace you’ve got yourself a winner.

Quirky crime

Australia’s own Melissa George (who’s been working on overseas projects for close to a decade) is excellent in the lead. Despite the sometimes outlandish events, she never goes too broad, playing Mia with the perfect mix of determination and stretched-thin frustration as things keep on getting increasingly dangerous, while still making it seem plausible that she’s someone who wouldn’t throw her hands up and call in the police.

Getting the balance right in this kind of series can be tricky: Mia is competent enough to make her way through the criminal underworld while remaining anxious enough about it all to still be likeable. Oscar is an over-confident screw-up, but O’Gorman give him enough dorky charm to overcome his flaws. And surrounding them are an ever-widening collection of menacing criminals (including at least one Australian), who’re still somehow more attractive to spend time with than the regular suburbanites.

There’s a lot going on in Ms. X and it gets more complicated as things progress, but that’s intentional. Part of what makes this energetic mix of crime and comedy work is the way that Mia and Oscar are constantly in over their heads; the various criminals and their competing agendas are a lot to keep track of, but in this kind of story it’s the more the merrier when it comes to murderous overseas criminals.

This kind of crime dramedy isn’t rare, but one that works as well as this one does most certainly is. George is a first-rate lead, the cast is solid all round, the comedy rarely feels forced and the crime side of things is dramatic while still staying at least somewhat grounded. The title might be generic, but Ms. X is a stand out.

Ms. X is now streaming on Binge.

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