IR TV Review: LUCKY - EPISODE 5 (“Are We Bad People?”) [Apple TV]

The way the "Lucky" episodes work really do let the character work shine while also understanding at the end the plot has to move forward. With the tragic end of the last episode, Lucky does need to keep track but also balance what is important to her versus what she is trained to do. Anya Taylor Joy’s great acting in the final minutes of the previous episode needed to set to be able to show what happens in this episode. Lucky is always thinking on her feet and lying at the same time which has got to be a little tiring.

At one point in this episode she lets down her guard and the audience can actually see the exhausted real her before it goes back up. It is a choice and she lets the would-be mark understand this. The same can be true of Priscilla, Annette Bening's character. Both of these women have no choice, seemingly ingratiated into these decisions but in different ways. One is done by a father and another as a would-be lover. Bening and Timothy Olympant don’t overplay their hand but still register powerfully (as this is specifically Lucky’s story). One small scene in a bathroom at a hospital and another one with Priscilla and Dutch (Clifton Collins Jr.) sitting on a stoop says a lot. But the ending scene again keeps ahead of the audience wanting you to see the next episode. And it works. B+

By Tim Wassberg