Distributor: Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
Episodes: 10
Duration: 46 min (per episode)
Strike Back: Season 3 (Blu-ray) – Series Review
Strike Back is a series about two military guys who would die for each other if necessary. That duo succeeds in completing the most difficult missions and mostly in style too. Season 3 is no different and the two pals have to prove their worth once more in ever life-threatening situations. Like action and a good portion of dry humor? Then this series is one you’ll want to keep an eye out for.
Strike Back season 3 starts off with Michael (Philip Winchester) and Damien (Sullivan Stapleton) enjoying life outside of the military and they are quite ‘enthusiastic’ while doing so. That is until they are contacted with the assignment to go back to the field once more. Reluctantly they accept and well, here they are once again, shooting at everything that moves, getting beaten by opponents and fulfilling the most impossible assignments. This time around, the hunt towards ultra-terrorist al-Zuhari is open and of course, as in real life, getting close to such an important person proves to be quite the challenge. While busy with the mission of getting intel, they stumble upon a guy called Kamali (Zubin Varla) who brutally executed one of their soldier collegues. Enraged with revenge, they abduct the guy (together with the help of a Mossad Spy, Rebecca, played by Lyne Renee) and after some back and forth action, Kamali admits of being a CIA spy. Of course, after hearing how Kamali cold-bloodedly shot down a fellow military, they are not too keen on trusting him all too soon. The whole Kamali issue lingers in the plot for quite a while and you, as the audience, just wait around as things go down. It’s quite amusing to see the Kamali trust issues evolve but after a while, it starts to drag nonetheless. At one point you just feel like a consequent choice must be made: either you trust the guy or you don’t but don’t repeat the same situations over and over again.
Apart from this particular threat, there’s of course a lot more going on. Maj. Rachel Dalton (Rhona Mitra) who’s the direct superior of Michael and Damien, starts to lose her mind bit by bit and turns to (a lot) of medication as an escape from the severe stress she finds herself in day and night. You can clearly see how the character is starting to break down and that’s another interesting branch of the storyline you’ll want to see more from. Okay, admittedly, the reason for her paranoia is for a great part Kamali’s fault and here again, we see the whole trust issue return multiple times again but even apart from that, Rachel is really on a rampage with a clouded mind and obvious addiction to pills.
Other events that happen in season 3 include Damien bumping into Rebecca once more and the two seem to develop some feelings for one another. Damien is surprised to find the woman still working for Mossad as she seemed to have promised to change her life around. Seeing the two of them develop something that resembles a genuine relationship is a pleasant evolution to follow and this is also the reason why some major events in later episodes will keep you pondering for a while over what just happened. Michael on the other hand, contracts some kind of neuro-poisoning which slowly destroys his whole body and senses. In a nutshell, there’s enough going on in terms of action, love, loyalty, mistrust and general tragedy to keep you entertained throughout the whole season.
There’s really nothing to complain about the acting performances in Strike Back: Season 3. Main characters Michael and Damien are being perfectly portrayed by Winchester and Stapleton and the dynamic interactions between the two will often leave you with a smile on your face. As it fits two pals, they constantly make fun of one another whilst having no problem of giving their lives to save the other if possible. The relationship between the two feels so real, even on TV, that it’s hard not to appreciate the effort put in the acting. Rhona Mitra also does a fantastic job at playing a paranoid supervisor with major trust issues and a hunger for pills. Zubin Varla who plays Kamali is also very good at what he does but as said before, the whole Kamali situation can become bothersome after a while so you might grow tired of Varla even though he’s great at his job.
Extras wise, expect a bunch of audio commentary to listen to while watching the episodes and a making of featurette which shows the audience an inside look in making the most action oriented scenes in the whole season.
Conclusion
Strike Back is back with yet another enjoyable season thanks to interesting plotlines and superb acting. You might become bored with the Kamali subplot after a while and indirectly, this affects Varla’s character too, but in general, there’s really nothing to complain about whatever situation the series throws in your direction. The acting is of top-notch quality and the dynamic interactions between main characters Michael and Damien bring enough humour to the table to leave you smiling multiple times. All in all, if military action is your cup of tea, there’s no reason to skip this season (and Strike Back in general).
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