Lucky Series Premiere Review: We Are In Control

Critic’s Rating: 3.75 / 5.0

3.75

A slightly spoilery note for fans of Marissa Stapley’s 2021 novel: Apple TV’s adaptation of Lucky does not hinge on a winning lottery ticket.

But the good news is that Anya Taylor-Joy, in the starring titular role, is a wonder to watch.

As the ironically named protagonist contends with her rapidly evolving circumstances, she enchants and intrigues every bit as much as her literary counterpart.

The Lucky series premiere lands with the first two episodes of the seven-part series, providing two contrastingly paced perspectives on the fallout from Lucky’s ill-fated Vegas adventure.

No Shortcuts

On Lucky Season 1 Episode 1, “No Shortcuts,” pilot writer Jonathan Tropper delivers a masterclass on how to fire the starting pistol on a non-stop sprint of a narrative.

We open with platinum-haired Lucky running from FBI agents amid a labyrinth of semi-trailer truck containers, only to be caught and held at gunpoint after the first minute.

Flashback to the previous day, where a redheaded Lucky celebrates with boyfriend Cary after they successfully retrieve a literal suitcase of money from an undisclosed location in Vegas.

For the next 30 minutes, we witness the consequences of Lucky not trusting her gut instinct that something wasn’t right after the heist.

In short order, she wakes up alone and discovers Cary has left her and taken the money. She hears approaching sirens and leaps into evasive manuevers.

Chased on Two Fronts

When she hits the casino floor, the news is reporting that she and Cary have stolen $10 million, and the FBI task force, led by Agent Rand, are everywhere.

With her hoodie drawn up over her face and expertly navigating the foot traffic patterns, she nearly escapes the casino, only to turn around and head back inside at the sight of Dutch, a mob enforcer outside the building.

With the public exits covered, Lucky pivots to internal options and pitches a con line at a delivery driver who gives her a lift.

As she puts her pursuers in her rear view, yet another flashback introduces her father, John, the conman who trained her up.

This cleverly connects to a conversation she and Cary have at the start of the first flashback.

Cary: Everything is going according to plan.

Lucky: Until it isn’t.

Cary: You know what I think? You know what I’m going to say? You gotta get him out of your head.

In the prison yard, John gives Lucky the mission to retrieve money he stole from a criminal organization. An unnamed “she” is about to come after Lucky for it.

Kindness of Strangers

There’s a subtle inflection moment when the delivery driver drops Lucky in front of a dollar store.

Her hastily thrown-together con wasn’t as convincing as she’d thought, but he still wants to help her out.

We don’t know her well at this point, so her hesitancy to take all the cash he offers her might just be part of her bit, but his actions and well-wishes are a powerful reminder that there are still good people in the world.

One of the core themes of Stapley’s novel that Tropper and head writer Cassie Pappas sought to preserve in the series is the question of whether you can be a good person and still do bad things.

Lucky passes on the delivery driver’s act of kindness when she helps pay for an elderly man’s purchase at a rest stop in Arizona.

By this point, we are learning that she leans toward good acts despite the world she grew up in.

Goodbye, Frying Pan. Hello, Fire.

And that brings us up to speed with the opening chase scene. Remember that? And in Lucky’s slow-motion fall to her knees, hands extended to the sky, there’s a sense of relief as well as defeat.

However, because there were two parties pursuing her, the FBI agent’s procedural directions to surrender get trumped by the full-speed ramming from the mobster’s SUV.

The mobster being the unnamed “she” from Lucky’s prison-yard talk with her dad. Priscilla Matheson. Higher up the food chain than Lucky’s dad, but still answering to someone above herself.

Also, Cary’s mother, making her Lucky’s mother-in-law of sorts. Oh, boy.

Make ‘Em Dance

If the pilot was a sprint, Lucky Season 1 Episode 2, “Make ‘Em Dance” is a tightwire act. The tension remains high, but it’s all about caution and calculation.

Where Lucky demonstrates her skills at evasion in the moment when running from Agent Rand’s team and her no-holds-barred approach to escaping Priscilla’s goons on “No Shortcuts”, “Make ‘Em Dance” gives her a chance to lick her wounds and change the narrative.

And, like “No Shortcuts,” “Make ‘Em Dance” is drawn from John Armstrong’s Book of Wisdom.

John: Every person’s got a rhythm. You learn to play it, you can make ’em dance.

Young Lucky: Where are we running to?

John: We are not running. People only run when they’re in danger. And you’re only in danger if you’re not in control. We’re in control.

To be honest, Timothy Olyphant lives in my head some days, but so much of Lucky’s life and choices gets puppeted by her father’s influence, it must be exhausting.

Agent Rand

While Lucky’s holed up with yet another kind stranger, we get some insight into Agent Rand’s personal hell, the quest to take down the head of the criminal organization Priscilla works for and John stole from: Whittaker.

She’s chasing Lucky and Cary for the money, but she also has to contend with Assistant Director Kershaw, who is less than pleased with how her plan is playing out.

In a weird and sadistic parallel, Priscilla has a face-to-face with boss man Whittaker, who demonstrates his displeasure with her in a far more direct manner.

Neither Rand nor Priscilla is in a good space. They’re under similar pressures to deliver results for men with rather unreasonable expectations.

Come to think of it, Lucky’s kind of in that boat too. Funny how they’re all acting at cross-purposes when they have so much in common.

Taking Control

In a recent interview with TV Fanatic, Cassie Pappas identifies the tense scene in Sylvia’s house as the moment she realized the show could maintain tension and suspense without constantly being on fire.

To be fair, the go-to strategy in both premiere event episodes seems to be setting stuff on fire, so in combination with John’s lighter, it’s definitely still an ongoing theme.

But if Lucky’s going to survive her foray into the belly of the beast, she’ll need to diversify her strategies.

If there’s one takeaway from the Lucky series premiere, it’s that no one’s born lucky. You make your own luck.

What did you think, Fanatics? Did the series premiere spark something for you?

Which characters grabbed your attention most? Vote in the poll! Comment below!

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