Bait premieres March 25 on Prime Video.
By Elazar Abrahams
When it comes to cinema and television, Riz Ahmed is definitely a student of the form. I say that because the actor’s latest project is also his brainchild, and you can feel the intention behind the camera. The six episode season of Bait is filmed with such deliberate style, and the scripts written with such tonal control that one can’t help but be impressed.
Ahmed may very well be our next auteur, and he’s the main reason why viewers will enjoy the show even when the self-proclaimed “comedy” doesn’t provide consistent laughs.
The hook here is very clever: Ahmed plays Shah Latif, a brown, Muslim Londoner who becomes a serious contender to be cast as the next James Bond. Of course, the world has opinions on this.
The more interesting angle, and the one that gives the series its best material, is how does Shah’s own community and family react? What does “positive representation” actually mean when you’re the person tasked with carrying it? What must it do to a celebrity’s brain when the role of a lifetime is also a cultural flashpoint that strangers feel entitled to yell at you in public about?
Bait is weighty like that, which is very admirable. It’s more complicated than just being about politics though, and definitely funnier than that, because another large focus is the insufferability of its lead. So while Latif is a victim of racism for sure, the episodes also target his own ambition and how the pressure he faces can make him unbearable.
Neither a standard sitcom or a conventional dramedy, the season shifts shapes as it goes, with one episode leaning more satirical, another having thriller qualities, and then a character study. Toggling between all these reminded me of Master of None, another streaming comedy with an elevated “film brain,” even if that series’ quality far exceeds this one.
Performance-wise, it’s a strong showcase. Riz Ahmed is obviously capable of carrying a series, and he uses his face like a weapon here, constantly recalibrating between confidence and paranoia. Simply put, he has… rizz. Sorry, it had to be said. The supporting cast helps too, especially the people around Shah who are both rooting for him and quietly horrified by what “Bond-level fame” would do to him.
My main criticism is that for a show with such a strong conceit and sturdy build, there are a lot of moments that aren’t as clever as they think they are. It plays with real cultural arguments, and it occasionally tosses off commentary in a way that can feel glib depending on where you’re coming from. Not every throwaway anti-zionist line is as smart as the show seems to think it is. But the larger question it’s asking is genuinely interesting, and it’s asking it with enough imagination that it avoids becoming a lecture.
Bait is better than decent, and genuinely impressive. Fans of stylish and unique TV should give this one a spin.
I give Bait a B.
TV and City 