Plot: Restless in the Florida Keys, Etta Tiger Jonze dreams of a life in Miami’s glittering, sub-tropical kingdom. When her family’s drug-running business shatters in tragedy, however, Etta embarks on a dangerous journey through Miami’s neon-lit underbelly that will define who she is and what she’s ultimately capable of.
Review: There are a lot of shows about revenge, but have you seen one that blends drug cartels battling each other in Miami’s tropical climate with the elements of a coming-of-age drama centered on a young woman with a genius-level intellect and nothing to lose? M.I.A. aims to combine the mature elements of crime dramas with the melodrama of a teen series to deliver a format never seen before. The results are a mixed bag that work well when they click, but often misfire with an uneven balance of the very different genres. Featuring an ensemble that includes Cary Elwes and Danay Garcia and led by newcomer Shannon Gisela, M.I.A. is nonetheless underwhelming despite a promising premiere episode that just cannot sustain momentum through the entire season.
In the first episode of M.I.A., we meet Etta Tiger Jonze (Shannon Gisela), a nineteen-year-old with an almost photographic memory and a brilliant mind. Her mother wants her to go to college, but Etta wants to stay and work at the family marina with her mother (Danay Garcia), father (David Denman), and brothers, where they give Everglades tours and charter fishing trips. Knowing that their family business is a cover for drugs being trafficked into the United States does not deter Etta until the head of the cartel (Edward James Olmos) dies and leaves control to his unpredictable son, Mateo (Maurice Compte). When the cartel asks the Tiger-Jonze clan to do something that Etta is against, Mateo and his brother Samuel (Gerardo Celasco) and family enforcer Elias (Alberto Guerra execute the entire family while Etta watches from a distance. Escaping with life-threatening injuries and rescued by a pair of illegal immigrants, Lovely (Brittany Adebumola) and Stanley (Dylan T. Jackson), Etta vows to kill the men who murdered her loved ones.
As the police, led by private investigator Kincaid (Cary Elwes), try to figure out who killed Etta’s family, the young woman vows revenge and begins plotting how to do so. Building a network to help her, including a doctor (Sonia Braga) and a woman with particular skills (Tovah Feldshuh). Etta’s intellect and aptitude to analyze and execute plans, along with learning from those around her, begin to develop the young woman into a John Wick-esque killer. Through complex plans, Etta begins taking down her foes in each episode through plots that feel like vigilante twists on the overly complicated plots of shows like Alias. But rather than becoming a cold-blooded killer, Etta remains a charismatic nineteen-year-old who falls for guys, makes friends, and lives her life in a somewhat typical manner despite the atypical circumstances. M.I.A. works best when it focuses on Etta’s kill list and falters when it tries to make us care about the relationship and tangential drama outside her main quest.
Through the first nine episodes of the series, I expected M.I.A. to focus on Etta’s singular quest for revenge. The premiere episode does a solid job of showing the personality and likability Shannon Gisela brings to her performance as Etta, while also giving us more than enough motivation to root for her to take down every one of the dozen men she holds responsible for her family’s murder. But M.I.A. also wants us to invest in the machinations of Mateo, Samuel, and their sister, Caroline (Marta Milans), as they take over their father’s business. Caroline is trying to run a legitimate business that launders the family’s drug money and runs into challenges with a local politician (Mike Colter). At the same time, Mateo and Samuel must contend with rival cartels, including the Russians led by Federov (Paul Ben-Victor).
Series creator Bill Dubuque is best known for creating the hit Netflix series Ozark, which ran for four seasons and balanced family drama with a larger criminal underworld. He also wrote The Accountant and its sequel, which delivered action from a unique assassin’s perspective. Both of these projects gave me confidence that Dubuque would combine the best elements of those projects into M.I.A.’s blend of action and drama. Unfortunately, M.I.A. is bogged down by unlikeable characters who get the majority of the screen time, with none of the villainous cartel members worth investing in, yet they still get half or more of each episode’s running time. Shannon Gisela is the most interesting character and is somehow wasted in a show designed to revolve around her. The South Florida setting should also have provided a nice array of urban and natural locales for stories to unfold, but most episodes are set in nightclubs, offices, or homes, with the action shrouded in darkness. The series features some talented directors, including Alethea Jones (Peacemaker), Gwyneth Horder-Payton (The Walking Dead), Mairzee Almas (Monarch: Legacy of Monsters), Ben Semanoff (Black Rabbit), and John Dahl (The Last Seduction), but none can elevate the series beyond its bland scripts.
I had high hopes for M.I.A. based on the first episode and where it left off, but Bill Dubuque’s series does not offer much energy or narrative incentive to make viewers care enough to stick around for the long haul. The characters make illogical decisions that make it difficult to keep caring about what happens to them next. Since the series is being released all at once, the expectation is likely that Peacock expects viewers to binge M.I.A. to see what comes next, but most of the twists are underwhelming at best, with a big reveal early in the season and a couple in the penultimate episodes serving as more groan-worthy than jaw-dropping. M.I.A. is a decent showcase for Shannon Gisela as a fresh-faced talent, but she deserves much more than this forgettable crime drama. M.I.A. is D.O.A.
M.I.A. premieres on May 7th on Peacock.
The comment section exists to allow readers to discuss the article constructively and respectfully, focused on the topic at hand.
What’s Not Allowed