Drug use new black

Rampant drug abuse is the new black for troubled cops in crime dramas.

It has not taken over from divorce as the social-ill-du-jour affecting heroes in the crime-drama genre, but it certainly has been added to the mix.

Here are some examples to back this up: Detective Rustin ''Rust'' Cohle (Matthew McConaughey) in True Detective is soaked in illegal chemicals, while Nurse Jackie (Edie Falco) in Nurse Jackie is constantly slipping off to the dunny for a quick snort.

Now, Kiwi actor Martin Csokas is Javier Falcon (with an acute accent over the ''o''), a troubled cop struggling with drug abuse.

All three characters are divorced - yes, all three.

I'm seeing a trend, despite Nurse Jackie being a dark comedy-drama series.

There was probably a cop in that show, and if there was, he would most likely have been a troubled cop struggling with drug abuse.

He would have been divorced, as well.

Boom.

Falcon (with an acute accent over the ''o'') is a miniseries which begins this Thursday on Sky Movies Extra, and is based on the books of British crime-writer Robert Wilson.

The books are set largely in Seville, Spain - the miniseries is filmed there.

Csokas (his name has an absolute mass of acute accents) was born in Invercargill.

If you ever meet him, just remember his surname is pronounced ''cho-kash''.

The miniseries is a production of UK-based company Mammoth Screen, which also made the terrific Parade's End with Benedict Cumberbatch.

Falcon (with an acute accent over the ''o'') begins with its hero suavely negotiating the time-worn historic European enclave replete with statues of the Virgin Mary swaying by in some religious festival, being cool and urbane while some poor fellow is being brutally murdered in a scene that involves scalpels and eyes and should not be seen by ... anyone really.

He wears a terrific suit.

He buys drugs in an alley downtown and goes home and takes them (after he feeds the cat).

But he's also a respected copper, and his latest case is the gruesome murder (see above) in which the victim ends up tied to a chair sans eyelids.

Falcon (with an acute accent over the ''o'') investigates, coming up against corrupt officials and the Russian mafia in a case that leads him to discover some hidden truths about his father's secret past.

Despite conforming to the trends, Falcon (with an acute accent over the ''o'') is entertaining stuff, with dead professional production.

It also stars Wellington's Kerry Fox as Javier's sister.

Most of all, it tells the world if you can make it in Invercargill, you can make it anywhere.

And that is a message we all need to hear.

- Charles Loughrey

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