REVIEW: ‘Taken Down’ from Acorn TV
Photo: Aïssa Maïga stars in Taken Down, now available from Acorn TV. Photo courtesy of Spiral Pictures / Provided by Acorn TV press site with permission.
Taken Down, a relatively new crime drama from Ireland, is now available on DVD and streaming from Acorn TV. The six episodes of series 1 follow the investigations by Inspector Jen Rooney (Lynn Rafferty from Ripper Street) as she looks into who is responsible for a horrible murder at a bus stop in Dublin. The deceased, according to press notes, is Esme, a young Nigerian woman was living at a local refugee center.
Rooney and her team soon descend upon the refugee center, interrogating its manager (Brian Gleeson from Logan Lucky) and Esme’s neighbor, Abeni Bankole (Aïssa Maïga from Paris, je t’aime), a mother of two boys who has been in the refugee center for eight years.
There are many mysteries within this mystery show. First off, the opening images of Rooney are of her in the hospital having recently undergone a procedure. This remains a secret for the duration of the first episode, and each time the inspector gets a moment to herself, one realizes that not everything is OK with her and something is causing an unspoken pain.
Another plot thread is that Abeni and her family are clearly targeted for being refugees from Nigeria. They faced discrimination from the day they arrived in the country, and they continue to face heightened scrutiny for no other reason than being in a difficult situation that is highly exploitative. Abeni tries to keep her family together and protect them from the police and society, in particular her oldest son who had a romantic relationship with Esme and seems to know more than he allows.
The only way for Rooney and the team to find out the answers about Esme’s death is to rely on those good old investigative tools that are now commonplace in Irish and British TV shows: CCTV, interviewing of possible eyewitnesses, examining the scene of the crime. However, they also need to make friends with the residents of the refugee center and earn their trust; this includes Abeni.
One man who seems like he could help is Samir (Slimane Dazi from Only Lovers Left Alive), a respected elder in the refugee center who dishes out advice to Abeni’s oldest son and serves as a type of watchman for the entire community.
The criminal investigation develops in a slow, methodical manner — perhaps too slow for some viewers. That’s because Taken Down is less interested in by-the-minute thrills and much more focused on real police work and character analysis. Jo Spain and Stuart Carolan’s script is both smart and sparse, with the dialogue thoughtful and focused. They obviously center their attention on Rafferty’s character of Rooney and Maïga’s character of Abeni; these two women, seemingly on either side of the eternal fight for justice, must work together in order to find some sense of closure and peace.
It should come as no surprise that both Rafferty and Maïga are the strongest of the ensemble. They are believable in their acting talents, and their portrayal of these two women comes off as authentic and powerful, almost like there’s no acting going on — just living.
Taken Down is invigorating and topical. Because it’s set in a refugee center, the murder-mystery tropes are given a slightly different and more prescient tone. It does feel that this story could play out in society given the hurt and struggles faced by families who move from one country to another, seeking asylum and a new life. Although fictional, it’s almost like Taken Down is ripped from the headlines, and that means the audience is ultimately tasked with learning from the narrative and appreciating the plight of these people’s stories.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Taken Down stars Aïssa Maïga, Brian Gleeson, Lynn Rafferty, Orla Fitzgerald and Slimane Dazi. Written by Jo Spain and Stuart Carolan. Directed by David Caffrey. Series 1 is now available on DVD and streaming from Acorn TV. Rating: 
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