Nightsleeper has all the elements of a thriller. A train traveling from Glasgow to London is apparently hack-jacked by a terrorist group. One of the passengers works with a cybersecurity expert to solve the issue, while the others create a ruckus. The situation obviously continues spiraling out of control, leading to the emergence of the information that one of the characters trapped on the train is involved with the hacker group. And yet, the first thing you realize while watching Nightsleeper is that human beings (or maybe it's just the characters in this series) are incredibly stupid. Some people stroke their egos during a disaster. A kid keeps hiding here and there, adding more tension to an already chaotic situation. When the train stops at a station, and police officers tell everybody to leave their compartments, some people refuse to follow the order. Couldn't the officers have informed the passengers about the gravity of the situation? The passengers, too, should have realized that something must be off, or else why would so many police officers ask them to get down at the station? Also, the tech support team fails to arrive on time to handle the single-board computer. In other words, these passengers could have really been saved from going through a horrible night. Nightsleeper forces some of them to remain on board, and this manipulation is too evident. A good thriller manages to hide its calculations. It puts our entire focus on the event, converting us into a breathless observer.
Written by Laura Grace and Nick Leather, Nightsleeper isn't completely immersive because we are always aware of its mechanisms. The stock characters - an ex-cop with a shady past, a journalist looking for scandals, an incompetent politician, an irksome douchebag, and an angry old man - merely serve the plot (no wonder we constantly hear characters say that nothing matters except for what's happening inside the train). Their mushy backstories help them establish a familial relationship with each other, and in the process, they mend their own personal bonds. Erin (Lois Chimimba) finds Aaron Moy (Alex Ferns) as unbearable as her father, which means when these two finally smile at each other, it means she has found a new father and (probably) has also forgiven her own dad.
Joe (Joe Cole) becomes protective towards a kid, Max (Adam Mitchell). Given that his son has stopped seeing him as a hero, his heroic deeds make him a hero in Max's eyes, which motivates him to make the right decision in the end. There is another dad (or soon-to-be-dad) on the train, Danny (Daniel Cahill), who mostly keeps asking for his satellite phone. He wants an update regarding his wife, who's in the hospital giving birth to their child. The good news comes after a fatal moment and is delivered in such a way that it sends the show to maudlin realms. Squint and you will notice the writers encouraging you to shed tears. Instead of following their command, you put forward this question, "How did the hospital get the satellite phone number when it's the cybersecurity guys who called to check up on the wife?" Given the urgency of the ongoing situation, it seems unlikely that Abby (Alexandra Roach) or someone from her team would share the phone number.
Grace and Leather don't bother solving such logical problems. They unabashedly recycle clichés, and that is their biggest strength. Nightsleeper is filled with cliffhangers and red herrings that make it the equivalent of a page-turner, though once you turn the page, you realize you have been cheated. The oldest tricks are reheated vigorously, which at times can be admirable. The twists and the what-will-happen-next triggers are placed in the correct positions. Nightsleeper clearly reveals Grace and Leather's lack of ambition. They try to add some commentary about bad journalism and inept ministers, but it all lands with a generic thud. Nightsleeper's unoriginal style sometimes calls so much attention to itself that a suspenseful event unintentionally elicits chuckles from us. I am thinking about that scene where Heart of Britain (that's the name of the hacked train, and it only tells you how creative the writers are) is about to collide with another train, and Fraser (James Cosmo) freezes in his position. Abby and Joe initially become so nervous that they start singing a song while talking on the phone. This joke works better than the one that arises from a similar feeling of nervousness when someone calls the hijack a hack-jack. You roll your eyes at the comment. The least exciting aspect of Nightsleeper has to be the identity of the hacker. When the series goes from one culprit to another, we feel it's pointing fingers at the least obvious individuals to just shock the audience. The desperation to pull the rug from beneath our feet is off-putting and apparent.
Despite all this, I don't think Nightsleeper is a bad show. It's rendered watchable through the commitment of the people who are present in front of, as well as behind, the camera. The cybersecurity team, earnestly running their fingers on the keyboards, fares better than the passengers who fight and moan and perform risky stunts in terms of performance. No one is memorable, though Abby, with her wide eyes and can-do attitude, certainly looks likable. Nightsleeper might not win prestigious awards, but it's definitely watchable.
Final Score- [5/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
Follow @vikasonorous on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times