Mini Review: C.B. Strike

Over Thanksgiving I finally had the chance to watch C.B. Strike, the BBC mini-series based on the Robert Galbraith books. It came as no surprise whatsoever that I loved the series completely. Below are some of the thoughts I had while watching.

The show was similar to the books in terms of showcasing a mood that was very contemplative and slow-moving. I think most readers agree that while there is action and excitement in the books, there is as much if not more down time in which Cormoran, or Robin, are alone in their thoughts. These times are not “boring” by any means. They allow the reader to think things through along with the characters. I think the show did a good job of conveying that thoughtful mood.

I think we can also agree on the fact that Tom Burke is not nearly as hard to look at as Galbraith made Cormoran sound like! Aside from that, I think the casting for both Cormoran and Robin is spot-on. One quirk that will forever change my reading of future books in this series is Robin’s accent! Maybe it’s just my ignorance as to what various regional English accents sound like, but gosh, hers was strong and hard to follow. I always watch shows and movies with the subtitles on, but for C.B. Strike I actually needed it to keep up with Robin and Matthew’s conversations. Other thoughts on casting various roles: Wardle did not look anything like I imagined, but Nick and Ilsa and even Shanker looked exactly as I had pictured them. Mrs. Quine and her daughter were exceptional as well.

I’m so glad that they will be continuing the show with episodes based on Lethal White. The cliff-hanger at the end of Career of Evil was just as bad, if not worse, to watch on screen – they can’t leave us hanging like that! Overall I thought it was extremely well-done and was very pleased with the show as a whole.