REELING THEM IN (GUILT, SERIES THREE)

© BBC Studios

Amid all the hoopla around the final seasons of 'Succession,' 'The Marvelous Mrs Maisel' and possibly 'Ted Lasso,' it's been all too easy to miss another one closer to home.

For two seasons, Neil Forsyth's BBC Scotland drama 'Guilt' has built a loyal following around the world with its tale of a shyster lawyer getting into scrapes in Leith and Edinburgh.

A Coen Brothers style tale of foolish errors compounded by catastrophic decisions, the show has been enjoyed by audiences in Ireland, Australia, Sweden, Germany, France, Portugal, South Africa and the 'Masterpiece Mystery' slot on PBS in the United States.

It's even been optioned in India for a remake in Hindi.

© BBC Studios

Not only that but it has enjoyed enthusiastic reviews from international TV critics.

Forsyth's show began in 2019 with a fatal road accident and an attempt to cover it up.

However over two series, his tale has spiralled into a dark comedy about Mark Bonnar's cocky lawyer Max McCall, his brushes with dangerous criminals and his tendency to draw decent people into messes that are mostly of his own making.

(SPOILER ALERT!!) 

Series two ended with Max out of Edinburgh and Leith and in Chicago where he was reunited with his brother, Jamie Sives' Jake McCall.

© BBC Studios

Back in Scotland, he outmanoeuvred Stuart Bowman's Roy Lynch, syphoning profits from the gangster's land deal to his estranged daughter, Sara Vickers' Erin McKee and setting him up to be killed by Greg McHugh's offender Teddy McLean.

However all is not rosy at the start of the third and final series.

Max is living in the Windy City with Jake and his American partner, Ruth Bradley's Angie, helping them to run their struggling Scottish bar.

Jake and Angie, however, suspect Max may be stealing money from them and plotting to abscond.

The couple set about their own plan to outwit Max, only for Jake to realise he's been hoodwinked by Angie who makes off with the cash.

© BBC Studios

As she flees, the brothers are deported back to Edinburgh by the US authorities as illegal immigrants 

The McCalls' return to their hometown is, however, fraught with danger, with Roy Lynch's wife, Phyllis Logan's Maggie keen for retribution.

Detained by the airport police, Max gets twitchy as he tries to figure out how to get him and Jake out of the city without Maggie knowing.

Attempts to involve an old associate, Emun Elliott's Leith private investigator Kenny Burns are initially rebuffed.

Kenny, it turns out, has worries of his own with his law student niece, Amelia Isaac Jones' Skye Burns falling foul of Maggie Lynch and a drugs gang that has killed her mum's partner, Jonathan Watson's Big Al McKee, throwing him off a balcony in a block of flats.

© BBC Studios

However when the brothers are betrayed and lifted by the Lynches leaving Edinburgh Airport, Kenny soon gets drawn into Max's murky gangland dealings.

It soon emerges Roy wasn't killed after all and that Teddy has been running a cannabis factory for him on a farm linked to the death of Al.

Can Max and Jake escape Roy and Maggie Lynch's desire for revenge?

Can Kenny continue to dodge doing anything illegal as he tries to protect Skye?

And why is Maggie Lynch so interested in the sale of the National Bank of Caledonia to a US bank and in its chief executive, Euan McNaughton's Sir Jim Sturrock?

© BBC Studios

Once again, Forsyth concocts an engaging tale of characters (mostly men) desperate to prove how smart they are, often tripping themselves up as they try to get one over each other.

With its salty Edinburgh humour, 'Guilt' revels in the scams and scrapes that Max and Jake get into and it thrives on the brothers' uneasy relationship.

Forsyth fills in some of the McCalls' back story with the appearance of David Hayman as the lads' estranged, elderly, angling obsessed dad, Alec.

But he also continues to deliver intriguing subplots involving Kenny and his partner, Isaura Barbe-Brown's disillusioned Detective Yvonne Nixon and the troubled offender Teddy who has turned to meditation in a bid to quell his propensity for rage and violence.

© BBC Studios

Maggie Lynch's callousness is augmented in this series as she becomes a pivotal figure.

There's welcome returns too for Henry Pettigrew's dodgy police officer Stevie Malone and Ellie Haddington as the wily curtain twitcher from the first series, Sheila Gemmell.

These characters are so rich that new ones like Jones' Skye, Tamsin Topolski's smart banker and Anders Hayward's low level crim Danny pale in comparison - although not for the actors want of trying.

The hasty dispatching of Watson's character leaves you wondering what might have been had Forsyth given Big Alec a bit more screen time.

The corrupt bank chief Sir Jim Sturrock, though, is a good addition to the show and McNaughton has a lot of fun portraying him.

© BBC Studios

As with previous series, 'Guilt's' plot execution can occasionally drag with scenes that dwell too much on characters berating each other about their motivation.

However its plots are again delivered over four episodes with a rough hewn charm by director Patrick Harkins and the show never overstays its welcome, keeping its audience invested in the ups and downs experienced by Max and the gang.

Once again, there's some smartly chosen needle drops from the likes of The Stranglers, The Cramps, Roy Orbison, The Psychedelic Furs, Mekons, Frightened Rabbit and Glasvegas.

In the core anti hero role, Bonnar remains as impressive as ever - effortlessly switching between Max's cockiness and smugness to increasing glimpses of his anxiety and self-doubt.

Sives makes a welcome return as Jake who tries to figure out if his relationship with Max can ever be repaired, while Elliott continues to deliver the most loveable character on the show.

© BBC Studios

McHugh again does a great job humanising Teddy, a damaged character with a compulsion for violence and a yearning to be anything but violent.

Series Three is also bolstered by two veterans of Scottish acting.

Phyllis Logan is wonderfully fierce as Maggie who emerges as the real brains of the Lynch operation, with its darkest heart.

For the brief moments he is onscreeen, Hayman is just magnetic as Alec McCall, an absent, weather beaten father living alone in the countryside who is keen to make amends with his two damaged sons.

© BBC Studios

It's a terrific example of how great casting can really boost a series and Hayman grabs his chance to shine.

'Guilt' isn't 'Better Call Saul' but as tales of dodgy lawyers go, Forsyth's Caledonia black comedy drama does a pretty decent job.

As it enters its final five minutes, fans of the show, like fans of Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould's, may find themselves searching for clues as to how 'Guilt' may one day be resurrected.

But if this really is the end, as it appears to be, 'Guilt' bows out on an intriguing note with some characters still seeking redemption and also umcertain if they will achieve it.

With Forsyth turning his attention to the big screen and a James Marsh directed biopic of Samuel Beckett for Sky Cinema starring Gabriel Byrne, we await his next project with high hopes.

(Series three of 'Guilt' was broadcast on BBC2 in the UK from April 25-May 16, 2023)