TV Series: The Continental

Over the last three days I've been watching the Continental TV series on Amazon Prime Video. It was advertised as showing the origin of the Continental Hotel that's featured in the John Wick films. I was disappointed to find that this isn't the case. It merely shows how Winston Scott became the owner of the Continental after killing the previous owner, Cormac O'Connor. I would have preferred a real origin story, showing how the High Table and its deputies first laid claim to the hotel in New York. It would have been even more interesting to see how the High Table itself was founded. There's a casual remark that it predates the Roman Empire. Rome was founded in 753 BC, but the empire itself is usually considered to have begun with the reign of Caesar Augustus in 27 BC. That means that the High Table is more than 2000 years old, but we still don't know where or how it was founded.

The only characters that we know from the John Wick series are Winston Scott and Charon, played by younger actors. They're 40 years younger than in the films. It's always tricky using different actors to play the same character. Ayomide Adegun is a reasonable choice for a younger Lance Reddick, but Colin Woodell looks nothing like Ian McShane.

The three episodes are each the length of feature films. There's a lot of action, but the series lacks the fluidity of the John Wick films. Apart from the appearance of an Adjudicator, we see nothing of the mystical parallel world of the High Table and their assassins.

I love the John Wick films. I watch them over and over again. I don't think I'll watch "The Continental" again. It's not important enough to give me any background information information I need to know. I don't usually rate television series, but if I were rating "The Continental" I'd give it three stars.