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In episode five of Netflix\u2019s The Beast In Me<\/a>, a tipsy Nile Jarvis (Matthew Rhys<\/a>) sings and grooves to Talking Heads\u2019 \u201cPsycho Killer\u201d while hanging out at his neighbor Aggie Wiggs\u2019 (Claire Danes) house. In response, she promptly asks, \u201cYou don\u2019t think this is just a little on the nose?\u201d After all, Nile has been accused of murdering his missing first wife, and Aggie suspects he might be involved in a local teen\u2019s disappearance as well. The show\u2019s true curveball is that it doesn\u2019t wait long to reveal if Nile is, in fact, a psycho killer. (In the previous outing, he furiously bashed in the skull of the FBI agent obsessively investigating him. And he actively plots to take down a politician speaking out against his latest New York City real estate development.) Gabe Rotter\u2019s series revels in developing Nile\u2019s slimy attitude and heavy ego, using that to explore his sociopathic tendencies over eight installments and sidestepping the questions of whether he is guilty and who the criminal might be.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s not like the enduring pleasures of a formulaic whodunit\u2014chasing clues and suspects for a (hopefully) rewarding payoff\u2014aren\u2019t easily accessible on TV right now. This year alone, Hulu\u2019s returning Only Murders In The Building<\/a>, FX\u2019s The Lowdown<\/a>, Prime Video\u2019s Ballard<\/a>, and Netflix\u2019s The Residence<\/a>, among others, tackled the format. However, another pattern has prominently emerged, seen most recently in The Beast In Me and Task, that feels like a wholly different yet invigorating crime drama. Both shows set the expectant guessing games aside for the most part. Don\u2019t mistake that for a lack of tension, though. By telling the audience about the culprit\u2019s identity early on rather than letting the suspense simmer throughout the season, they build intense character dynamics, motivations, and themes that are difficult to shake off by the end.\u00a0<\/p>\n As Nile and Aggie indulge in psychological warfare, The Beast In Me pits them against each other to escalate the anxiety as we see both sides of the battle. There are no other red herrings, alibis, or whodunit tropes. A far more bleak and moving Task does something similar. FBI Agent Tom Brandis (Mark Ruffalo) forms a team to nab thieves targeting a gang\u2019s trap houses in Delaware County. Unlike in his previous Pennsylvania-set HBO drama, the thrilling Mare Of Easttown<\/a>, creator Brad Inglesby doesn\u2019t solve this mystery solely through the lens of a tough yet vulnerable detective. Instead, Task<\/a> immediately expands the POV to include Robbie Prendergast (Tom Pelphrey) and his loved ones.\u00a0<\/p>\n With the help of a couple of friends, Robbie steals from the Dark Hearts to avenge his brother\u2019s death at their hands. Except, as seen in the premiere, his night takes a violent turn when a shootout occurs during the break-in. His targets die, and Robbie essentially kidnaps their surviving boy, giving Tom another case to solve. With this, Task sets up the opposite of a straightforward whodunit. It\u2019s not even a howdunit or whydunnit, although those aspects are woven into the show\u2019s fabric. There\u2019s intrigue in watching Tom fit the puzzle pieces and catch up to what the viewers already know, all while handling a shattering personal crisis. Simultaneously, Task meaningfully digs into Robbie\u2019s agenda and empathizes with his own crushing backstory and the grief and guilt that channels into total self-sabotage. Tom and Robbie\u2019s paths finally converge in an exhilarating fifth episode<\/a> and come to a head two installments later in a meet-up that is equally poignant and action-packed<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Beast In Me, on the other hand, derives tension from Nile and Aggie\u2019s constant push and pull. She risks her life to investigate him, but it\u2019s also a distraction from her own suffering of losing her child in an accident while she was driving the car. And Nile attempts to mask his murderous rage with charm, which leads to plenty of nail-biting sequences between them. TBIM and Task, despite their tonal differences, mine from how the two leads\u2014the good guy and the bad guy, so to speak\u2014engage with each other. Another through-line comes from how both dramas smartly deal with the fallout of the events rather than showing us what might\u2019ve led up to them.\u00a0<\/p>\n Like Task and The Beast In Me, Netflix\u2019s Adolescence<\/a> also successfully answers its big mystery quickly. Episode one closes with the confirmation that 13-year-old Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper) killed his classmate, with the remaining three installments unpacking the tragedy in heartbreaking detail instead of delivering twists<\/a>. And every episode of Poker Face<\/a> (much like its inspiration, Colombo) begins with showing the murder before amateur sleuth Charlie Cale (Natasha Lyonne) connects the dots. Even Apple TV\u2019s latest sci-fi saga, Pluribus<\/a>, unveils early on the truth about the alien virus that has affected the population, save for Carol Sturka (Rhea Seehorn) and a dozen others. Vince Gilligan<\/a>\u2018s show mines from her dystopian circumstances to build the suspense on what the Joined want next rather than letting the ambiguity of who they are linger, a pointedly different playbook from the puzzle-box mystery of Severance or recent subpar thrillers like Untamed, The Better Sister, and All Her Fault. And when the results are this absorbing, it\u2019s hard to complain about flipping the script.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Saloni Gajjar is The A.V. Club\u2018s TV critic.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article
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