Based on Bentley Little’s 2015 novel of the same name, The Consultant is comedic thriller series starring Christoph Waltz, Brittany O’Grady, Nat Wolff, and Aimee Carrero.
Elaine (Brittany O’Grady) and Craig (Nat Wolff) work for an app based video game company called CompWare but when their boss unexpectedly passes away he is replaced by a consultant named Regus Patoff (Christoph Waltz) who has unconventional ways of running the company which puts its employees in challenging situations.
Elaine and Craig attempt to uncover dirt but they soon find out that their lives could be in danger and Craig’s engagement to his fiancé Patti (Aimee Carrero) could be in jeopardy. The two become conflicted about Regus Patoff as Elaine believes that the company has become more successful since he took over and one of Craig’s ideas for a video game goes into development. Something that would not have happened with the previous boss.
I must start off by mentioning that Christoph Waltz is the perfect actor to play Regus Patoff, a character who is both creepy and quirky at the same time which I believe is similar to other roles that I have seen Waltz portray. He effortlessly manages to be threatening in a subtle way, but can also be awkward in a way that you can’t help but find funny. He was certainly the standout performer in this series which is taking nothing away from the other actors as they are all brilliant and gave terrific performances in their own right. But it Christoph Waltz that commands the screen in every scene that he is in.
The pacing in this series is brilliant. Each episode reveals a little more of the story, so every episode is essential and there is no filler. While something is revealed in each episode, the series will leave you having more questions than answers which I felt was very well done. The show keeps you guessing and is very rarely ever predictable.
The Consultant is eight episodes long and the duration of each episode is just over half an hour which I found was the perfect amount of time for this series as it didn’t seem too short, but it didn’t feel like it was too long either. The blend of thriller and comedy works surprisingly well, and the comic relief makes for a good balance for when the series is at an intense moment.
Although it is only touched in minor details here and there, I did also enjoyed the parts of The Consultant that showed the development of the video games that CompWare makes. On a similar note, I loved the layout of the CompWare office. Some parts of the building look like just a standard office but what was really impressive was the in the middle of the office where there are big screens with video games that are playing non-stop.
The games that are playing are presumably made by CompWare which I believe helps show and provide convincing detail that CompWare are a successful app based video game company. There is also a big glass staircase that is bright red which I thought looked nice and the colours in the office really helped to make the show stand out.
The Consultant is a dark, twisted yet also funny series that rarely has a dull moment across its eight episodes. Completely entertaining, The Consultant has the ability to give you the creeps as well as make you laugh, and also it will also keep you guessing all at the same time.
The Consultant is available now digitally and is streaming on Prime Video Australia.