“Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes.” / “Ridley Road.”

“Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes” (Hulu) British true life drama. The 4-part series documents the killing of 27 year old Jean Charles de Menezes by officers of the Metropolitan Police Service at Stockwell station on the London Underground in 2005 after he was wrongly deemed to be one of the fugitives involved in the previous day's failed bombing attempts. Two weeks before on July 7, London was shaken by bombings in which 52 people were killed.

       The script by Jeff Pope is almost a typical news report. No qualms, no chasers in between. Not fiction or the usual police procedural that we watch on TV, this story is real–and a reason why many have lost faith in police leadership. Meanwhile, the police and their superiors, as well as the five young terrorists in the botched assignment (after the big one) were stripped off their steely armour and presented in vulnerable skins. So we see the guilt there, especially by Met Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair and Commander Cressida Dick, ably channeled by Conleth Hill and Emily Mortimer.

       Anyhow, as a civilian or non-police, I see glaring flaws in how officers of the Metropolitan Police Service at Stockwell carried out the unbelievably whacked operation in the London Underground or subway. 🎥💻📽

“Ridley Road” (Amazon Prime) British historical drama that deals with the Jewish opposition to British Fascism in the 1960s. It was adapted from Jo Bloom's 2014 novel of the same name. The 4-part series focuses on Vivien Epstein, the daughter in a traditional suburban 1960s Manchester Jewish family, as she infiltrates the British Movement, a neo-Nazi organization in the 1960s UK.

       Despite being almost soap-operatic in its treatment of the made-up plot points and the dialogues, which are sappy or cliché, the cast–Agnes O'Casey as Vivien; Rory Kinnear as Colin Jordan, leader of the British Movement; and Eddie Marsan as Soly Malinovsky, Vivien's uncle–was stellar. There are more wanting per production values but still, this series is entertaining as is. 🎥💻📽