If you watch one show this week, it needs to be the season 1 finale of "The Day of the Jackal."
This spy thriller has been one of my favorite shows this fall. Only "Slow Horses" season 4 is higher on my list. "The Day of the Jackal" is adapted from the 1971 book of the same name by Frederick Forsyth and while nominally a Peacock original show, it's actually a co-production between Sky Studios, Universal Television and Carnival Film and Television. That means you don't need to have Peacock to watch it outside the U.S.
This is good because today's (Dec. 12) season finale is a must-watch. "Slow Horses" has long held the title of the best spy thriller on TV, but with this final episode, "The Day of the Jackal" could take the crown. Granted, that's slightly helped by this season probably being the worst "Slow Horses" season to date (which is still a great season of television), but this spy thriller starring Eddie Redmayne and Lashanna Lynch can go toe-to-toe with Gary Oldman & Co. on its best day. Here's why you need to be watching "The Day of the Jackal," especially today's season 1 finale.
What is 'The Day of the Jackal' about?
The original 'The Day of the Jackal is set in 1962 and is loosely based on a real assassination attempt on the life of French President Charles de Gaulle. But this latest adaptation scraps that narrative, instead adopting a setting in the present day with the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) hunting down the titular assassin known as "The Jackal."
In this adaptation, "The Jackal" is played by Eddie Redmayne and he goes by several aliases that I won't disclose here in case you haven't watched the show yet. He leads a double life — when he's not an assassin for hire, he's a husband to Nuria (Úrsula Corberó), who knows him as Charles Calthrop, and father to an infant son named Carlito.
But that double life gets complicated. Especially when things go south and the assassination of German politician Manfred Fest earns the attention of MI6 agent Bianca Pullman (Lashanna Lynch). She surmises that Jackal used a sniper rifle with a collapsable barrel, possibly made by a Northern Irish gunsmith Norman Stoke (Richard Dormer). From there, the chase is on, but it's a race against the clock. Jackal has already been hired to kill a new target: tech billionaire Ulle Dag Charles (Khalid Abdalla).
'The Day of the Jackal' is a reimagining, not a remake
Spoilers for "The Day of the Jackal" episodes 1-9 beyond this point
If you're like me, you might have been skeptical of yet another remake of an existing property when you first heard that this show was announced. But there's good news — it's not a carbon copy of the book or the famous 1973 film adaptation starring Edward Fox.
And when I say that, I'm talking about more than just the fact that this story takes place in a version of present-day Europe. There are depths to the story being told here that don't exist in the 1971 novel.
Unlike the book and film, which are more pure espionage mystery thrillers, this adaptation of "The Day of the Jackal" takes the time to add to the titular character. He now has a wife and a kid. We see how he's recruited into gun-for-hire work while serving as a soldier in Afghanistan and why he may prefer the work he does now to serving as a soldier without any agency in who he kills.
There's also a killer soundtrack and score for this show. Emmy-nominated music supervisor Catherine Grieves ("Baby Reindeer," "Killing Eve") does an excellent job curating the soundtrack from the show, which kicks off its first episode with an expert assassination from Redmayne to the tune of Radiohead's "Everything in Its Right Place." Her choices are complimented by an original score from Academy Award winner Volker Bertelmann ("All Quiet on the Western Front") that while more subtle than an iconic 2000s rock song is still excellent.
Of course, the show isn't without callbacks to its source material. Nuria knows The Jackal as Charles Calthrop, a callback to the name of a falsely accused suspect in the original novel. There's also an iconic shot-for-shot remake from the 1973 film where The Jackal tests his new bespoke rifle on a doomed watermelon that he's painted a face on. But there's enough new here that concerns of it being a retread can be safely and easily dismissed.
'The Day of the Jackal' is well-made enough to be the best spy show this year
Full disclosure, as good as "The Day of the Jackal" is, unseating "Slow Horses" as the spy thriller supreme is going to be a tall order. As relatively weak as season 4 was, the season ended on a high note and was still really good. In my most recent best shows of 2024 so far, it was No. 3 on the list.
But this show could unseat it with a flawlessly executed season finale, and I wouldn't necessarily bet against that happening. From the soundtrack and score to the writing, acting and more, this show is incredibly well-constructed in every aspect. While I've found some storylines didn't always work for me, it'd be impossible to fault the craft with which this show was made.
So go watch the season 1 finale right now and stay tuned for my upcoming interview with executive producers Gareth Neame (also showrunner) and Nigel Marchant about how season 1 was conceived and what to expect in season 2.
Stream all episodes of "The Day of the Jackal" on Peacock now
