Except the new Apple TV+<\/a> six-parter continues to rely on an age-old trope that just doesn\u2019t cut it anymore. While Liaison<\/a> may be a contemporary thriller, its reliance on characterising Green\u2019s character, Alison Rowdy, as a female who needs rescuing or protecting in some way is\u2026 bothersome.<\/p>\n It\u2019s tiring watching the \u2018damsel in distress\u2019 trope play out at the best of times, but especially when you have such a multi-layered character like Alison: she\u2019s intelligent, multi-lingual, has a healthy relationship, a nice house and is respected in her male-dominated line of work within the government. But even so, she somehow becomes sidelined by an ex from her past, Gabriel (Cassel).<\/p> Liaison explores how the mistakes of our past have the potential to destroy our future, set against a tale of international cybercrime and politics. While it\u2019s impressively action-packed in parts, its multiple plot lines really are underlined by the lingering and slow-burning romance at the centre of the narrative.<\/p>\n Gabriel and Alison are ex-lovers with a past that isn\u2019t quite revealed until the final episodes, but from the first glance of this pair together, it\u2019s clear that they have a lot of unfinished business. While Alison is involved in this high-flying case and has the respect of her colleagues, she almost immediately folds into herself when she first catches a glimpse of Gabriel on the CCTV footage that her team brings up in the office.<\/p>\n Sure, it\u2019s a shocking moment but suddenly, the voices of her governmental colleagues asking about his diplomatic immunity fade into the distance, focusing instead on Green\u2019s stoic expression. She only speaks when Peter Mullan\u2019s Richard Banks (her boss) suggests finding a way to revoke Gabriel\u2019s immunity, a natural line of questioning after it looks like he\u2019s involved. \u201cNo, we can\u2019t do that,\u201d she says, giving an excuse about media backlash.<\/p>\n She lingers in the board room after her team leaves, still looking shocked and breathless, an expression which continues as she drives home in the rain. In the first episode\u2019s final moments, we see Gabriel and Alison somehow reunited through the rain-filled window of her home, where their hands rise up to meet each other.<\/p>\n In any other instance, a scene like this would be romantic (if not, a little cringe-worthy too) but here, it feels disjointed. Honestly, it just stirs up feelings of annoyance because you just know<\/em> that it\u2019s the beginning of Alison being thrown off of her A-game with the arrival of her ex on the scene.<\/p>\n The onscreen chemistry between the pair is definitely undeniable but that\u2019s not the gripe with Liaison. Instead, it\u2019s the fact that while Alison is as much of a protagonist as Gabriel is, so it feels odd when the action happens around her, rather than her being in the driving seat of figuring it all out.<\/p>\n We don\u2019t immediately know the intricacies of Alison\u2019s job, just that she works for the British government, has a father who was once a very important person in NATO and he now lives in an imposing castle. We come to learn eventually, though, that she\u2019s the \u201cpersonal assistant\u201d to Banks (Mullan) but we follow her as she becomes increasingly involved in a string of international cyberattacks that are threatening London, and also her personal life.<\/p>\n The threats of this international crime operation do strike very close to home for Alison, and she and Gabriel work together to combat this newfound threat to the UK. But you can\u2019t help but feel that she is the \u2018damsel in distress\u2019 in this series. She\u2019s investigating it all but with Gabriel on the scene, he takes the lead and does his best to protect her.<\/p>\n With female-led thrillers so few and far between, it would have been amazing to see Alison characterised as a bad-ass, as someone who brushes aside her own feelings for the sake of sussing out the bad guys and saving the day. Instead, she says things like \u201cI need you, I really need you\u201d to Gabriel in French.<\/p>\n![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2023\/02\/AppleTVLiaisonkeyart-a2a74d3.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
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