Mr. In Between Days

Mr. Inbetween is an Australian TV series following criminal Ray Shoesmith who both works security at a club for a low-level boss and doing freelance assassinations—while also delving into other crimes. It follows not only his criminal escapades but also his family life—he’s divorced and sees his daughter infrequently while his brother has motor neuron disease.

There are three seasons, but the commitment is minimal as the total time for each season is between three and six hours—each episode is usually only around 30 minutes. There’s 26 seasons in total, so that’s a full commitment of about 13 hours.

The life of the main character isn’t glamorous, and his issues with anger and violence hurt his chances for happiness. He does seem to live by his mantra of respect—show people respect and expect to receive it from them—but that really doesn’t allow him to function normally in society. His responses to disrespect are also generally out of proportion, which doesn’t seem to be clear to him.

Ray is a fascinating point of view character, and a very flawed one at that. While he’s is uber-competent at his chosen profession—he spent time as a soldier, so knows how to use a weapon and remains cool in a fight—I’m not sure anyone would really want to live his life as it’s represented in the show. A theme seems to be how willing everyone is to screw everybody else—there is only dishonour among thieves. He can’t be honest with his daughter and really doesn’t seem to know how to be a good father. He may desperately want to be, but he can’t seem to be able to accept the choices he would need to make to become one.

So there is depth to the drama, but what drew me in to watching the show was the taction. Yes, Ray has plot armour, but the fights are well-presented, with a sheen of verisimilitude that makes them believable and creates tension. That doesn’t mean they aren’t exciting, and there are three or four really impressive set pieces through the series. The action scenes are all pretty good, but those pieces really stand out as exception.

The side characters also get a chance to breathe. We know them, what motivates them, and their various idiosyncrasies. Ray’s relationship with this brother—who is really struggling motor neuron disease and his own sense of agency and worth—is quite emotional. And then there is Ray’s relationship with this daughter. The love is there, but Ray doesn’t know how to really connect with her, especially in the third season, when she’s a too-mature-for-Ray’s-tastes pre-teen.

In the end, this is a 13-hour engaging character study punctuated by violence. I was completely invested in this series, and would recommend it to those who enjoy stories of criminals and the criminal underworld. I give Mr. Inbetween 4.5 Patchett/Sterling submachine guns out of 5.