"The Zero Option" - Lucky Man S03E03 Review

So... on this week's Lucky Man things happen. Harry's luck gets worse but verrrry slowly because... reasons. Suri starts to figure out that Elsa isn't on the up-and-up. Eve has a change of heart, but not really. And Rich gets something to do besides be brotherly.

And that's about it. It's not bad, but there isn't a whole lot there. That's the problem with reviewing a show like this year's season of Lucky Man. There isn't anything bad, but there's nothing really great, either. It's surprisingly middle of the road, like someone has taken over as show runner. And maybe someone has taken over from Neil Biswas. I don't pay enough attention to the interviews and fan talk. I just go by what's upon the screen.

So what was up on the screen? Eve gets a gun from its hiding spot and goes home. MI6 and the police are waiting for her, get the gun Harry supposedly used to kill Isabella, and capture Eve. She breaks free, jumps out into the back of a nearby mulcher, and rides away on her motorcycle.

Suri somehow tracks Rich to the houseboat Harry is "borrowing". They have a terse conversation, the upswing of which is that Suri figures Rich is hiding Harry from her. She says they can't be a couple if he doesn't trust her and storms out. And... wait. I thought they already weren't a couple anymore. Rich says later Suri broke up with him, but it sure sounds like Suri was talking in the present tense about how they can't be a couple, not that they couldn't be a couple. I'm confused.

Now that the police have the gun, Harry launches an elaborate heist to get to the gun in the evidence storage facility and wipe his prints off of it. He makes a deal with a burglar, Darius, who as we and Harry find out, has a deal with the police. As we'll later discover, Darius ratted out his brother Wesley in return for getting away with his own burglaries.

When Darius' wheelman disappears, Harry volunteers Rich. That's the funniest part of the episode, as Rich ribs Harry about never trusting his driving and always does "that thing with your eyes". They break into the facility, gas the manager and the guards unconscious, and discover the codes have changed. Harry's bracelet fails to give him the random number sequence--although it's worked as well as it ever does, mostly, for the previously part of the episode--and Darius cuts off a trainee's thumb to open the vault holding the $3 million in used money that is part of Harry's payoff to him in return for his help. Harry locks Darius up in the money vault because he broke Harry's rule about no violence--wish we had heard that--and sends him the video of Darius ratting out Wesley.

Meanwhile, Harry convinces Eve to try and get close to Samuel and convince him she's on his side. That doesn't go well, but Eve starts to have second thoughts. Samuel is all concerned the bracelet will plunge the world into chaos to protect the owner, like it has done in the past.

Elsa demotes Suri after Eve escapes from her custody. So Suri sets out to prove Harry's innocence. She's still not particularly likeable during all of this, and seems like she's doing it to get back at Elsa rather than any friendship for Harry. Steve isn't so sure, and starts working with Elsa instead of Suri.

In the end, Suri calls fellow DC Dan to help her capture Harry. It turns out Dan is working for Samuel. Dan and Samuel capture Suri and Eve, and Samuel dangles them from a bridge and has his men set Eve's cord on fire. He then tells Harry he only has time to save one of them. Harry can't pull Eve up because of the burning cord, so he rescues Suri and Eve falls into the Thames. To never be seen again?

And that's it. Judging from the previews, Suri has the good sense to be thankful to Harry. We still don't get much of a motive for Samuel, other than his family was killed in the chaos the bracelets caused to protect its holder. Samuel injects himself with the painkiller/steroid drug again, for no particular reason that I can tell. If Eve is gone, I won't be sorry: I always found her a bit annoying.

There's a scene between Samuel and his MI6 superior that doesn't seem to go anywhere. Elsa acts like a cold-hearted bus, demoting Suri after promoting her. Which turns Suri against her, so dumb move. Granted, Suri was only promoted because of Elsa so she at least briefly had more than she stated with. But I guess she doesn't see it that way.

Harry's luck is still so hard to tell if it's working or not regularly that it's difficult to tell when it's fading. He can't enter the right random code to get into the storage vault. But his failing to save Eve and Suri is pretty much par for the course. I suppose "luck" could have saved Eve--it's pretty much omnipotent when it works--but it works so irregularly most of the time it's hard to tell. Harry still continues to get lots of lucky breaks, whether it's a window-cleaner's water pipe bursting or a piece of glass flying into a criminal's neck. It looks like his luck loss will become more blatant in the next episode, judging by the previews.

James Nesbitt and Stephen Hagan are good, as always. Rupert Penry-Jones can do sleepy menace while taking a nap, and apparently does. Amara Kuran and Sienna Guillory are still mildly irritating. Darren Boyd and Neve McIntosh don't have much to do this episode.

So overall, "The Zero Option" is an okay episode. It's hard to imagine them dragging this out for another seven episodes, but no doubt they will. So like the title lyrics say, it's going to be a wild ride.

But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?