Jeri Jacquin

Currently streaming on Tropic with Season 1 in time to catch up before Season 2 from writer/director Arian Moayed is the mysterious tale of one phone call and the trail into a different world with THE ACCIDENTAL WOLF.

Katie Bonner (Kelli O’Hara) is married to successful husband Bradley (Mike Doyle) with his influential father. She is used to that considering she has issues with her own mother (Judith Ivey). Raising a beautiful baby girl, Katie keeps her days as busy as she can. That is until one night she receives a telephone call that is about to change her life.

Almost immediately Katie can hear the sound of people running, bombs exploding and people screaming. The name she hears over and over is Tala, as the man on the phone does not understand that he has reached the wrong person. Katie tries to make them understand but learns that Tala is pregnant.

Thinking she had lost them on the cell phone, Katie all of a sudden hears a distinctive American voice ask a question. She hangs up quickly only to have the call returned. Telling her husband not to answer the phone is not enough. Soon after there is banging on the door and now, she is in front of someone from the government asking her questions about what she could possibly know.

Katie contends over and over that she does not know anything and that the call was not for her. When those questioning her feel she is not a threat, Katie can not get the call out of her head. Making notes from what she remembers, her family is not happy that she will not let the issue go.

So unhappy about it all that both sides of the family begin to try and quell Katie into submission. Now she must be mover clever than those around her – play the game to keep her child and play the game to get answers as to ‘who is Tala?’ and ‘where is she?’. Katie finds Ram (Laurie Metcalf) who leads her to Buja (Sahr Ngaujah) but with every step there are drones following her.

Constantly being confronted by her family, Katie is finding something within her that she did not know was there – a desire to break away from the constraints put on by Bradley and his father. Also, the determination to find the woman who has haunted her since that very first phone call!

O’Hara as Katie opens the season with an all-to-familiar look at motherhood. Trying to be everything for everyone, she is beginning to show the signs of strain. That phone call changed everything she thought about herself and those around her. She is living dangerously and at the same time driven to find someone she knows nothing about. O’Hara gives us a round of emotions in season one that are intense and frustrating, get ready for season two because Katie got her groove back.

Ngaujah as Buja is making sure that Katie knows that one more step further into finding Tala means she is stepping into a world that could get her killed. Katie continues to call and follow Buja until he tells her things that are even scarier. Ngaujah is strong but man there are moments where crazy eye comes into play. Giving his character what is necessary to protect his people, I can not wait to see where Ngaujah takes this role.

Metcalf as Ram is just out and out frightening, and I loved every moment of it. She is gritty, harsh, and gives this character a cloak and dagger feel. I have to say that Ram is a character that will not hesitate to bring death close if you pushed her.

Doyle as husband Bradley is pretty much what you would expect for a successful, rich narcissistic child of a successful, rich narcissistic father. He wants things done his way and expects Katie to do it without question. Doyle makes sure we do not like him from the moment he is on screen giving character Bradly the look and feel of someone Katie needs to get far away from – but there is a price.

Ivey as Katie’s mother is opinionated and sometimes takes it all too far. She makes Katie’s life a tad miserable with the way she thinks things ought to be done. Siding with Bradley and not understanding Katie’s need to find Tala causes friction between mother and daughter.

The cast includes Mike Doyle, Ben McKenzie, Amy Landecker, Raul Castillo, Erin Wilhelmi, Sahr Ngaujah, Denis O’Hare, Judith Ivey and Laurie Metcalf.

Season One includes the episodes Who Is This?, You Deserve It, What Is It That You Want?, and 50/50. Season Two begins with The Temptress and Father Figure.

Topic is the boundary-pushing streaming service for thrillers, mysteries, dramas and documentaries from around the world, serving viewers who crave entertainment beyond the mainstream. Whether it’s a Nordic-noir crime thriller (The Killing), a back-stabbing, an Italian political drama (The Miracle), or a mind-blowing supernatural mystery from Russia (Dead Mountain), Topic expands your view of the world. For more of what Topic has to offer please visit www.topic.com.

THE ACCIDENTAL WOLF is an intense drama filled with intrigue, questions and more intrigue. Coming in at 25 minutes per episode, it is frustrating in a good way and makes binging totally amazing. O’Hara gives us a character we want to shout at, then we want her to keep going only to shout at the television again!

The story is not clogged up with special effects or drawn out with distractions. Instead, the story keeps us moving forward and trying to put a puzzle together given only a tiny piece at a time. Of course those of us who have seen season one are speculating constantly about how everything could possibly be connect – and it is fun!

Season Two of THE ACCIDENTAL WOLF will be on Topic December 30^th, giving everyone time to catch up with the rest of us as Season One is available also.

In the end – who is Tala?

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