BOTTOM LINE
Novel Thriller, Slightly Overstuffed
PLATFORM
SonyLIV
RUNTIME
6 Hours [7 Episodes]
What Is the Show About?
In the wake of a surge in stalking cases and murders, police officer Tina Sebastian reluctantly joins hands with a specialised group of mental health professionals – Ayesha, Vidya and Tanvi – to prevent crimes. As a team, they must race against time to protect potential victims and dismantle the traps set by perpetrators.
Performances
Kani Kusruti, as a reluctant cop who gradually warms up to her team, delivers a precise performance, giving viewers a peek into the role’s contradictions and subtleties. Nikhila Vimal and Shruti Ramachandran are assured in a show that grants them chunky screen space. Saniya Iyappan bags a substantial, well-etched role, while Dev Mohan is an interesting choice to play the manipulative bureaucrat. Jaffer Idukki and debutant Riyaa Jithu make a mark among the rest.
Analysis
Police procedural thrillers conventionally revolve around a crime and its aftermath, where an investigation leads to the culprit. Sony LIV’s Eyes, helmed by Manu Ashokan (Uyare, Kannekkaane fame), stays a step ahead. This is a story about a system working to prevent crime from a psychological standpoint, tracking potential suspects and victims through software, hoping to douse the fire at the right moment.
The plot, about mental health professionals and techies helping cops prevent crime in a region, has the makings of a feature film script expanded into a long-format series. The variety among the cases is its key strength, while it glances past the professional and systemic roadblocks the team faces in executing the operation.
The show deep-dives into four cases where obsessive stalkers, all men with contrasting behavioural patterns and socio-economic backgrounds, try to gain a stranglehold over their partners, indulging in emotional and physical abuse. What ties them together is how they gaslight women into normalising their toxic behaviour, stripping them of agency.
The most interesting of them is a high-profile couple on the cusp of divorce. An IAS officer sees himself as a victim in his marriage to a noted politician’s daughter, who doesn’t fall in line to fulfil their bureaucratic favours and high-society standards. The coin flips when the woman narrates her side – where the husband obsessively alienates her from her social circle, systematically crushing her morale.
In another case, an aggressive man struggles to accept rejection from a shopping mart employee, resulting in a tragedy that complicates the girl’s life further. There’s also a creepy fan tracing the whereabouts of his favourite actress for years. A school teacher is pushed to marry an alcoholic, and when she backs out, it jeopardises the family dynamics of neighbours beyond repair.
The payoffs aren’t always satisfying in each scenario, but there’s a lot happening to distract you from its obvious problems. The techie behind the software is in the middle of a financial crunch. There’s a fallout among the team as they fail to prevent a suicide. A pregnant officer is replaced by a female counterpart just as the case nears resolution.
There’s an obvious backstory attached to the psychiatrist to give her added impetus to execute this initiative. The show, at several junctures, feels over-written and over-explained, with the subplot of a petty elderly criminal taking refuge in religion to mask his past being one such example. Writers Anjana Nayar, Bobby and Sanjay go to great lengths to rationalise problematic behaviour, and there’s just too much information to process at once.
The ending too is a bit of a cop-out. It feels as if the team ran out of ideas to give a satisfactory resolution and wanted to wrap up formalities out of exhaustion. The transitions between cases could have been smoother. The jumps appear sudden and dent the momentum. There’s a lot of huffing and puffing to justify the six-hour runtime, and you wish it was less daunting.
Eyes gives a fresh psychological spin to a police procedural thriller with an intriguing premise. The show is generally engaging, tackling a relevant theme, though it has minor inconsistencies and gets excessively convoluted for its own good.
Music and Other Departments?
Ranjin Raj’s soundscape has the tension you expect from a cautionary tale. The show significantly uses pastels with a bluish finish to drive the theme forward. The visuals do the job, even if they don’t scream for attention, while the editing transitions could have been smoother across subplots. The writing is mostly decent, barring a few dips in momentum.
Highlights?
Fresh take on the genre
Varied cases, characters
Neat performances
Drawbacks?
Prioritises twists over satisfactory resolution
Generic interpersonal drama among team members
Underwhelming ending
Did I Enjoy It?
Generally engaging
Will You Recommend It?
Yes. While far from perfect, there’s enough substance to make you overlook its flaws.
Eyes Sony Liv Web Series Reviewed by M9 News
