The Consultant is the corporate son of’s Matt Shakman and Yellowjackets’ Karyn Kusama—and, with each installment running a half-hour, it’s also swiftly paced.
Anxiety remains high throughout, especially courtesy of Wolff, whose Craig is a stressed-out mess contending with a boss who doesn’t seem to trust him (or can be trusted), a colleague in Elaine for whom he still harbors feelings, and a fiancé in Patti who isn’t confident about his fidelity and demands that he get his act together.
Alas, for all its misdirections and evasions, The Consultant isn’t as perplexing as it lets on, thanks to various details that make plain Patoff’s diabolicalness. From Faustian bargains and incessant red lighting to violent deaths and persistent talk about the Catholic Church, it’s hard not to see the writing on the wall, and by the time Elvis is crooning “(You’re the) Devil in Disguise,” the proceedings have all but given up pretending there’s an alternative explanation for its main character’s disreputable conduct.
Amazon Studios
Consequently, those hoping for a long-form tease à la Servant will be mildly disappointed; the series’ coyness is offset by persistent winking at the audience that’s intended to make sure they aren’t baffled by what’s taking place.
Even if Waltz’s protagonist is ultimately an easy riddle to decipher, and his tale isn’t as expansive as it could be, The Consultant paints a cynical portrait of 21st-century business as a ruthless arena in which the means always justify the ends.
For all their supposed moral misgivings, Elaine and Craig both eventually grasp that professional dreams and personal fulfillment are achievable so long as ethics, the law and basic decency aren’t permitted to stand in the way. That’s not, it must be said, a particularly groundbreaking take on modern capitalism. Yet in Basgallop and Waltz’s assured hands, it’s nonetheless delivered with a humorous amount of bite.
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