Collateral on Netflix, is a taut tight thriller, that is at the intersection of three organisations linked to the murder of a pizza delivery boy in London. it is based around the frissions between important people in , what Marx would term, the superstructure – The Military, Intelligence Services, The Police, The Church, and Parliament.

 

The story begins with a pizza delivery gone wrong. A man, we are later told that he is an illegal immigrant from Iraq (not a refugee from Syria) is shot as he leaves a house after delivering a Pizza. The story takes off from there and it is the story of 5 women and their lives criss crossing around the murder

There is DI Kip Glaspie, who is investigating the murder. She is practical, pragmatic, and pregnant. Her relentless pursuit of the truth, drives the story. There is Captain Sandrine Shaw – an army officer, who has been told the pizza boy is a terrorist, and kills him. There is Karen Mars, the highly strung ex-wife of a Labour Party MP (who is soft on immigration) who has ordered the pizza expecting a different type of topping. There is Fatima Asif the sister of the dead man, who knows more than she says. And, there is Laurie Stone the woman who sends the pizza delivery boy to his death, who also knows more than she is letting on. And finally there is Jane Oliver, a priest, who is in a gay relationship with an illegal Vietnamese immigrant, who is also the only witness to the murder. The only man of consequence in the story is David Mars, the Labour Party MP who is in the badbooks of his own party for calling his country a ‘nasty little place” while talking about immigration.

Part murder mystery, and more whydunit than whodunit, part commentary on immigration policies and empathy – the collateral is a very British show. If you are used to the fast paced, action filled American series, this may not be the show for you. But, if you like your story unravelling like a good mystery book, this will work for you.