TV reviews

In France: Aired on Canal+ in 2017
In the UK: Available on Sundance Now

In one way, the Internet has been very liberating for us TV viewers, giving us access to shows that we’d never have otherwise seen from all over the world. Look at Walter Presents. Look at most of the content of TMINE.

However, it’s also led to a certain Balkanisation of viewing.

You want to watch Igor Kosnokosnokovnokov’s latest and greatest 39-part drama about dissent dolphins during the Austro-Hungarian war of 1477? Sure, but it’s only available on the DolphinTV channel, which you can get on Roku and Android, but not your iPhone or Chromecast, but you’ll need to take out a subscription to Mammalian Channel X first and then buy the Aquatic Creatures top up for £100 a month, as only seven of you want to watch it.

It can also mean that a show that you’ve already started watching using normal, mainstream methods becomes harder to watch in full as subsequent seasons emerge. You may be a Lucifer fan (why?) but in the UK, after you’ve watched the first three seasons on Amazon, you’ll have to take out a subscription to Netflix to watch seasons four and ultimately five.

The Bureau – at last

Which is why, despite the first two seasons of Le Bureau Des Légendes (The Bureau) being some of my favourite ever TV viewing, it’s taken me nearly two years to watch the latest two seasons. The first two seasons are available with an Amazon Prime subscription. I have that anyway, so it’s basically not a cost, and I can watch it on my Roku, Apple TV, iPad or iPhone.

However, the second two are only available through a Sundance Now subscription. That’s an extra £5.99 a month, and you can subscribe to it through iTunes – meaning you can watch it on an Apple device, but not a Roku – or through Amazon (again).

And seeing as there’s next to bugger all on Sundance Now that I want to watch that I haven’t seen already (including a bucketload of Scandi Noir), I’d basically be stumping up £5.99 per month to watch The Bureau and given my schedule – I had Capote on DVD for a year from LoveFilm and that was the only thing I had, and I still hadn’t watched it by the time I returned it – that could have wound up very expensive.

Thanks heavens for holiday projects, hey? Because over summer, I took out a Sundance Now subscription, downloaded all the episodes of The Bureau and set myself the task of watching them all by the time I got back. All for £5.99. Bargain!

Today I’ll be reviewing season 3; tomorrow I’ll be reviewing season 4, so tune in then for more of that but less of me whinging about subscription costs. Thank God for that, hey?

Maintenant…

For those of you who don’t know about The Bureau, I heartily suggest you check my previous write up, which explains why it’s basically the pre-eminent spy thriller of the 21st century. You think it’s The Night Manager? Then I can do nothing for you, I’m afraid. You’re lost to me. The rest of you I can work with. Please go and watch The Bureau if you haven’t already.

But as there’s very little I can say about season 3 that isn’t a spoiler for people who haven’t seen the first two seasons, let’s go talk about it after the jump.