Comedy For A Callous World
New Zealand Listener|November 17 - 23 2018

The trials and tribulations of your average neighbourhood hitman.

Diana Wichtel
Comedy For A Callous World

Just because you kill people on a regular basis doesn’t mean you are a bad person. As the moral underpinnings of a television series, even in a post-Tony Soprano and Walter White world, this is a hard sell.

Maybe it’s a sign of the times but it seems television is increasingly presenting the opportunity to suspend judgment in the face of the unspeakable. Dexter was a particularly cruel serial killer but he retained a certain fastidious charm: “I’m a very neat monster.” And his victims deserved it.

More recently, Barry followed the gruesome fortunes of a former marine turned assassin trying to redeem himself by becoming an actor. “I’m a good man,” insisted Barry as the body count climbed. Soon people were dying whether they deserved it or not.

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