'The Escape Artist' - A Broken World

I have to admit the idea behind the plot is quite intriguing: There is this fantastic defender who helps winning a suspected criminal, Liam Foyle, his hopeless case. And then, somehow the criminal ends up killing his defender's wife. This alone is a really challenging (not to say unrealistic) set-up and if this had been produced in the US I'm sure FOX or BBC America would have made sure to make a whole American season out of it, which equals 24 episodes. Instead of 3.

And to be honest, in this case I'm not sure if the Americans had been that wrong. After all, the first part of this trilogy feels rather rushed. It feels exactly like the introduction of a book. You get the setting, you understand the action. And my dear, there is a lot of action going on. So you know what things mean to them, but you aren't given the time to feel it too. The story does not get the time to sink in. It does not get the time to do its grim sparkle.

If this would have been an American production I guess by the time Will Burton loses his wife, in episode 5, they would have made sure we sit there blinking back tears. And as the credits roll in, our brains would slowly start to kick in thinking what can be the motivation behind a deed like this? How can a denied handshake have such consequence?  This way, we only do the thinking.

Then again, maybe the rushed feeling is just one part of the actual problem. Somehow, the story does not feel right. In addition to the obvious lack of closure, it's not exactly helping that its plot is highly unrealistic: First of all, why should have Foyle never used his own computer to access those adult sites? He was living on his own, well, if we don't count the birds. He paid for the content. Why not access it as well ? Additionally, why on earth should Foyle's sick mind come up with the idea of killing Burton's wife? That refused handshake cannot have been such a big incentive... Why should he accept to go to jail for it? What's more, why should Maggie defend Foyle? Yes, Maggie may be the second best out there, but still, she and Will know each other, what's more, she was talking to his wife. Isn't there a paragraph saying something about a personal conflict? Or does this only apply to American doctors, lawyers and investigators? But the cherry on the imaginary cake of surrealistic situations is that Will's wife decides to spend that night at the cottage... I know these days couples do not talk. But how could she miss something was going on... Besides Will certainly knew about his wife's plans for the weekend. So why not mention that lunatic he had to defend at court the other day?

So  actually, I do not know why the world Wolsstencroft created for his series does not feel right. Is it really broken or is this just what one may call the result of lazy plotting?
 

All in all, this was an puzzling introduction. It's a pity that it wasn't a puzzling story as well.