Jett

"Jett" is a good homage to both heist films and exploitation films. In both genres, getting the audience to care about the leads can be tricky because the stock sex and regular violence that comes along with the criminal element can shock a viewer into not caring about the plot or the characters. While filled with tender insights about the human condition, this is a TV show intended to be seen by adults who won't get squeamish at the sight of blood, substances, or skin.

Carla Gugino has been the hard, streetwise dame enough times that the added bonus of seeing her pull jobs of various sizes is a pleasant surprise. She slaps, shoots, flirts, fucks, and struts her way to her goals in a way that is ballsy and fluid. Whether the job goes right or wrong, she keeps going. She's not indefatigable and relentless, but once she has a plan, she sticks to it. She is fierce and audacious and, yes, if you are a hardcore fan of Gugino, this series will provide so much more to obsess over than other projects she has done before.

Gugino is not the only person pulling heavy duty. Elena Anaya plays Jett's closest confidant, and the two slip into Spanish and English domestic back and forth that could be its own show within a show. Giancarlo Esposito is a crime boss who keeps tempting Jett back into the seedy underbelly. There are lots of parallels drawn between the cops and the criminals, with ample justification on either side for good and bad behavior.

The men on either side of the law are not bad looking either, which is more than one can say for heist and exploitation films of the 1970s. There are lots of slow pans, split screens to be able to focus on multiple moving pieces at once, hypercolor, freeze frames, and gorgeous slow motion while the classy soundtrack keeps the viewer bopping along. In a nod to both progress and regressive violence, Gentry White plays the gay, black son of a crime boss who flies off the handle regularly, even occasionally hurting his white lover.

The gentler, more human moments in the show happen at the most unexpected times and not always between the same people. For these peaceful moments, one can understand why Jett is willing to take risks and trust strangers in order to protect the family she has cobbled together out of less than nothing. Even as the episodes slide back and forth through time, it becomes harder and harder to gauge whether or not Jett has ultimately succeeded in keeping the few sacred things in her life intact.