Black Bird

Black Bird is a great show that kept me on my toes the entire time. It takes the usual true-crime setup, locks it inside a maximum-security prison, and turns every conversation into a psychological game of "Which one of these motherfuckers is about to snap?" There is almost no room to breathe, and the show makes damn sure your nervous system knows it.

Paul Walter Hauser plays Larry Hall, and Larry is the creepiest motherfucker ever put on a television screen. I will fistfight anyone who disagrees. Hauser does something with Larry's voice, face, and unnerving little mannerisms that makes every cell in my body file a restraining order. The man looks like he could make "Good morning" sound like evidence from an active investigation.

Taron Egerton also does an excellent job as Jimmy Keene. Jimmy must get close enough to Larry to extract a confession without letting Larry realize he is being manipulated. That means watching him participate in conversations where every sensible instinct must be screaming, "Get the fuck away from this human basement." The tension comes from waiting to see whether Jimmy can keep his disgust hidden while Larry casually opens another horrifying door inside his head.

The ending is somewhat predictable, but that barely matters. I was not watching for one spectacular final-scene ass explosion. I was watching for the buildup, the manipulation, the escalating danger, and the constant possibility that Jimmy's performance would crack at exactly the wrong moment. The destination may be visible, but the road there is paved with enough psychological nightmare fuel to keep things gripping.

Eight out of ten. Black Bird is tense, disturbing, brilliantly acted, and powered by Paul Walter Hauser apparently deciding that nobody watching television deserved to feel clean again. I finished the series entertained, impressed, and emotionally in need of a shower with industrial-strength bleach.