Rent Bait on Amazon Video (paid link)
Created by: Riz Ahmed
Starring: Riz Ahmed, Patrick Stewart, Guz Khan, Aasiya Shah, Sheeba Chaddha, Sajid Hasan
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the trailer
Plot
A struggling actor on the cusp of landing the role of a lifetime finds himself thrust into a full-blown existential crisis and conspiracy simultaneously.
Verdict
While James Bond is the catalyst, this is a series that explores expectations; what Shah wants for his career, his family's hopes, and public perception. Shah is playing the part of a successful actor, but in reality he's struggling and needs this role. The show uses a severed pig's head to communicate his inner monologue. It's as wild as it sounds. Shah has the opportunity to play this prominent part, but what does that represent for his Indian heritage? The question of identity and conformity creates tension from the beginning as Shah's experience is filtered through being a British Pakistani.
It depends.
Review
This opens with a cheesy spy movie sequence before it's revealed Shah (Riz Ahmed) is auditioning to play James Bond. I don't think the studio would set up costumes and a director just for an audition, but it works as an introduction for what this is.
Shah is up for the part of James Bond. He's struggling now though he won a rising star award ten years ago that included a watch he's now having to sell so that he can maintain the illusion of a movie star. He buys expensive clothes only to return them so he can appear successful. James Bond could change everything, but there's a public backlash over his potential casting. Many people object to a minority cast for the role. Shah is mistaken for Dev Patel, and he doesn't know what to do. The first episode ends with a hate crime; someone throws a severed pig's head through his parent's window.
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| E1: Riz Ahmed plays Shah |
Raj Tahkker (Himesh Patel) is Shah's rival for the role. Raj is cool and suave, at least from Shah's perspective. They're both at an event and Taj steals Shah's story. Then Shah perceives a threat that proves disastrous. His publicist asks him to make an apology for the incident. Each recording seems insincere or disconnected.
In episode two Shah's insecurities are voiced by Patrick Stewart while Shah imagines being on his podcast. It's soon revealed that Shah is talking to the pig head from episode one. The pig head takes on a larger role than I ever imagined.
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| E2: Riz Ahmed plays Shah |
While this is about insecurity, that takes on a deeper meaning with Shah being a minority not only in his local community and England but also in the acting world. It's a different level of stress. Many fans reject him only because of his skin color.
By the time a security consultant who claims to be working with MI5 appears to recruit Shah, we don't know what's real. Shah is also still talking to the pig head. We just don't know how reliable he is as a narrator. He's having trouble getting to his follow up audition, and his agent is upset he's blowing off the James Bond opportunity. When he finally makes it, instead of delivering the famous, "Bond, James Bond" line he states he's Shahjehan, his full name. While he's choosing to embrace his own identity instead of conforming to what's expected, it's not the most opportune time, but it's also a stand against James Bond. Instead of playing an Indian spy, Shah has been trying to conform to the image of a famously white spy.
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| E5: Patrick Stewart voices the Pig Head |
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