Upon finishing the second episode of HBO’s newest dramatic thriller, The Flight Attendant, I tweeted that the show was triggering my particular brand of lawyer anxiety, as the series’ protagonist Cassie (an excellent Kaley Cuoco) was ignoring the incredibly sound advice of her lawyer friend Annie (a perfectly cast Zosia Mamet) and making some seriously poor choices. A friend quickly responded, “Oh just wait.” And low and behold, right at the start of episode three, more poor choices. But, unlike most shows, where the lead makes a host of poor decisions only to have each and every one pay off, The Flight Attendant makes a point to call out Cassie’s blunders as those around her are forced to watch as she digs herself deeper and deeper into a crazy international conspiracy and the FBI closes in on her.
But I’m getting ahead of myself here. What is The Flight Attendant about? Well, Cassie is a flight attendant living the high life – traveling the world, partying hard, sleeping with gorgeous guys. Everything, at least from the outside, seems to be going great. On a relatively normal flight to Bangkok, Cassie decides to go out on the town with one of the passengers from her flight, Alex (Michiel Huisman, who’s great in his limited capacity within the series). Unfortunately for Cassie, she gets blackout drunk and wakes up next to Alex’s very bloody – and very dead – body. With only flashes of memory regarding her previous night, Cassie is in a race against time to figure out just what happened to Alex, how she factors into his death, and elude whomever was (presumably) responsible for Alex’s murder – all before the FBI figures out a way to pin his death on her.
Now, if the series were just a straight thriller, it would have been a thoroughly entertaining ride from start to finish. But, as the eight episode first season unfolds (the series has been renewed for a second season – a move that both worries and entices me, as I’m afraid there might not be enough story to have lightning strike twice with the same characters, a la Killing Eve, a series this shares a lot of narrative DNA with), our understanding of not only Cassie but the colorful (and incredibly well-acted) cast of characters surrounding her deepens to the point where you can’t help but root for them to succeed. And that’s no easy feat.
See, the most interesting aspect of The Flight Attendant is that none of its characters are particularly likeable. Cassie is a self-centered alcoholic who is incredibly charming and personable, but who completely sucks at being a dependable friend, co-worker, and family member (alcoholism will do that to a person, after all). Annie is emotionally closed off, compartmentalizing her life so meticulously that Cassie isn’t even aware she’s been dating someone until she’s forced to admit it. Megan, one of Cassie’s coworkers (played by a criminally underused Rosie Perez – the chance to see more of her is the biggest selling point of a second season for me), has a secret life of her own. And Michelle Gomez is the series MVP in a role I don’t want to spoil. The show’s greatest strength is how much time and care it takes to build out its characters so we grow to understand just why they are the way they are – even if we don’t always end up liking the results.
Without that, well, The Flight Attendant would just be another thriller – fun, but a whole lot of empty calories. Because the story itself is pretty simplistic if you’re familiar with the genre (or if you’ve spent any time studying narrative structure). Everything works out exactly how it should to maximize the thrills and minimize the fallout. When Cassie makes a huge discovery with the help of a supporting character, you know something is bound to happen to that supporting character that prevents them from backing up Cassie’s crazy new bit of evidence. The seams of the story occasionally appear, pulling you out of the action and allowing you to guess with pinpoint accuracy what’s about to happen. But, you know what? The characters are so compelling, the cast is so strong (seriously, there is not a single weak link in the bunch), and the story is so fun I didn’t mind that I figured out each and every twist before it occurred. Hell, there’s also a Mind Palace set-up that would make Sherlock Holmes jealous.
There’s an awful lot to love about The Flight Attendant, but I’m well aware this show won’t be for everyone. If you have trouble enjoying shows without truly likeable characters, this show isn’t for you. If you aren’t into thrillers, or don’t particularly like watching a mystery (although this one does get wrapped up rather nicely at the close of the season, so no need to worry about dealing with major cliffhangers going into season two), I would give it a pass. But if you start watching and find you want to scream at Cassie to make better choices – keep going. I was tempted to stop after three episodes, but I’m so glad I didn’t. At a mere eight episodes, The Flight Attendant is the perfect new year binge.
The Flight Attendant is currently streaming on HBO Max.
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