RTE's new crime drama Clean Sweep packs a punch in its first episode due in part to its unusual premise; telling the story from the killer's point of view.
It stars Monaghan actress Charlene McKenna (Peaky Blinders, Bloodlands) as a woman with a dark, murky past. The six-part family crime drama is inspired a true story. It's set in the west of Ireland and follows a Garda detective, played by The Fall actor Barry Ward, as he hunts for a murderer - but has no idea that his wife is actually the killer he's looking to catch.
The official series synopsis from RTE reads: "This six-part family crime series is told from the point of view of Shelly Mohan, a wife, mother, homemaker and killer hiding in plain sight. .
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"Her days are filled with cooking, cleaning, shopping and chauffeuring, shuttling three kids (Rhys Mannion, Katelyn Rose Downey, Aidan McCann) from schools to activities, volunteering on the PTA with fellow stay-at-home-parent Matt (Trevor Kaneswaren) and somehow still managing to have a home-cooked meal on the table by the time her garda detective husband Jason (Barry Ward) arrives home every night
"Her chaotic yet happy life is put in jeopardy when Shelly is confronted by an ex-lover (Adam Fergus) who threatens to expose her murderous past."
In the first episode which aired on Sunday night on RTE One and RTE Player, Shelly Mohan (Charlene McKenna) is living her life as a busy mum with three kids, a husband, a big car and a nice home in the suburbs. But she's also living under a fake name, and a few minutes into the episode it becomes clear hat not all is as it seems when an English man with a scruffy beard confronts her in a supermarket and calls her "Mags", adding they they need to have a talk.
Shelly/Mags and the mystery man share a past, and she agrees to meet him at a hotel. But things quickly go awry when he insults her new life and threatens to tell her family everything, and Shelly shoots him dead with a gun.
After Shelly flees the scene, her garda detective husband Jason is assigned the case to hunt down the killer. And he doesn't have a clue that the killer is living in his own home.
It appears that Shelly will have to keep both the guards and her husband off her back to keep her dark past a secret. It's an intriguing drama full of dark family secrets and unexpected twists and turns, and so far fans have called it a worthy replacement to RTE's Kin.
One person commented on social media: "Wow. Great start to Clean Sweep, brilliant acting from Charlene McKenna." Another added: "Clean Sweep. Kins Replacement now. Not too bad, Charlene McKenna is such a great actress."
It's a slow burn to start, but with Charlene McKenna and Barry Ward leading the charge, it's sure to be a brilliant and gripping cat-and-mouse game. Clean Sweep is created by Gary Tieche who has written on Preacher for AMC, I Know What You Did Last Summer for Amazon as well as working on Medium for CBS.
The cast of Clean Sweep also includes Jeanne Nicole Ni Áinle as Jason's detective partner Fiona and Cathy Belton as the Scotland Yard investigator DCI Crichett looking for answers. Talking about her leading role in the new Irish drama, McKenna recently told RTE: "Oh, I got my teeth into it alright - and my nails, my eyes, my ears, my soul . . . I'm still not recovered.
When asked about her character's personality, McKenna described Shelly as a "wrong 'un" and said she kills more than one person.
McKenna said: "I can, to the best of my ability, understand that she isn’t a sociopath. She is into complete and utter survival. In the early days, she’s protecting herself and then later, it’s about protecting her family at any cost."
Clean Sweep airs Sunday nights on RTE One at 9:30pm and all six episodes are available to watch now on RTE Player.
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