M.I.A. Review: Coming of Age Amidst Murderous Tragedy

Once upon a time, Miami was the murder capital of the U.S. Those days return in a new crime series.

M.I.A.
All nine episodes debut Thursday, May 7, exclusively on Peacock TV. I've seen all nine episodes.

In the early 1980s, Miami, Florida, had the highest murder rate in proportion to its population. No wonder that movies like Brian DePalma's Scarface and television shows like Michael Mann's Miami Vice were set in and around South Florida.

Happily for the area's residents, the crime in the city has steadily declined in recent years. Judging by Peacock TV's new series M.I.A., however, the murder rate has soared lately.

Created by Bill Dubuque, who wrote the outlandishly entertaining crime thrillers The Accountant (2014) and its sequel, his more pertinent credit is co-creating the Netflix series Ozark, in which a man steadily drags his family into his criminal activity. In M.I.A., Etta Tiger Jonze (Shannon Gisela) is surrounded by a big, loving family, with loving parents and two big brothers who are very protective of her.

Young Etta works in the family business as a tour boat guide, though she'd like to do more as she consider her future. College is not really for her, she thinks, though her mother (Danay Garcia), especially, insists that she get an education, get out of town, and stay far away from the family business. To Etta, though, she is eager to learn more about what they are doing that provides for their comfortable existence.

Learning more about the family business, though, soon ends in tragedy. By Episode 2, Etta finds herself among strangers. Her entire life course has changed. Now she will have to decide how she will respond to tragedy, and what sort of person she will be.

In essence, the show is a coming-of-age story. The first episode, written by Bill Debuque and directed by Alethea Jones, packs a mighty punch, laying out the groundwork for its protagonist to follow. Etta is adroitly performed by Shannon Gisela, who lends her character great empathy, especially in the succeeding episodes, as she deals with the consequences of her own actions, as well as those who inevitably cross her path, post-tragedy. She has a heavy load to bear, and she struggles, bravely yet heroically.

Gisela turns into an unexpected action star, for reasons best not disclosed. Indeed, it's impossible to write about the remaining eight episodes without spoilers. Still, showrunner Karen Campbell, who also wrote Episode 2, allows Etta to come to her own conclusions about how she wants to handle things, which strengthens the spine of the narrative, while also integrating characters like former police officer Cary Elwes, who is now a grizzled private eye with a special interest in a powerful crime family.

Truthfully, some of the middle episodes waver in tone, as the series wobbles between more realistic action and outlandishly evil sequences that feel more like nightmares, and a few too many coincidences to be believed. (I mean, does everybody in Miami have murder in mind? See my opening comments about the crime rate in the city.) The final two episodes, though, directed by John Dahl, brought the show home with impressive style.

If the show constantly teeters on the edge of reality, though, the binge model works to its advantage, as in, 'OK, that felt like it went too far. But I want to see what happens!' The characters, especially Etta, kept me watching, despite my reservations.

M.I.A. made me feel like I was on a seesaw with an alligator; even so, I wanted to stay on until the gator gave up.