Series – 1 Season – 6 Episodes (40 minutes) – Thriller
Second season unconfirmed
Well, well, well, if it isn’t another British series, innit. Say the word heist, and I will click play faster than I used to roll a joint. As its title suggests, Steal is a heist thriller starring Sophie Turner (Game of Thrones), and it ain’t too bad. Granted, out of six episodes, only the first one is about the actual heist. The last five episodes follow the fallout and explain how the heist happened in the first place. This is not a bad thing, I’m just giving you a heads up. We will be following a young office worker, Zara Dunne, who finds herself in the middle of a well-orchestrated heist combining both old and new tech. Even in the world of bitcoin, triple authentication and all that shit, nothing says give me the loot like a gun in your face. Biggie would be proud.
This is a refreshing change, and I have to say I found it quite interesting to learn more about how this whole thing works. The speculative investment funds, trades, and all the other financial shenanigans. Satan, I hate them all. The structure remains the same, with a couple of fat cats grabbing all the money while the working class does the actual work. And remember, I’m not talking about the heist, I’m talking about their day-to-day operations. What makes the whole thing even better, and what I think is one of the points Sotiris Nikias, creator of the show, wanted to make, is that this is a pension fund. I guess he saw the 2009 crisis and the austerity measures for what they were.
Again, if you want to know more about this, I will refer you to Yanis Varoufakis. He’s an absolute bad-ass and extremely knowledgeable person when it comes to this topic. Especially his definition of technofeudalism, a system he purports we live in now. Nikias even threw in the Military-Industrial Complex in the mix, kudos my man. Moving on, Sophie Turner gave another great performance along with the rest of the cast. At this point in her life, she seems perfectly suited to play these characters, leaning into them with power and precision. I feel that people are being too hard on her, just like they were on Kristen Stewart after Twilight.
For a moment there, I thought I was looking at Alexander Siddig’s (Dr. Bashir – Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) son, in Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, who plays DCI Rhys Covac, but I was wrong. Archie Madekwe was also good as Luke. Steal manages to keep the mystery about how and why all of this came about for six fucking episodes. This was quite a feat, and don’t worry, all will be revealed in the end. I know that some of you might not like the slower pace toward the end, but I think it was necessary. There won’t be much action here. However, when the action comes, it’s well-choreographed and quite impactful. It reminded me of a toned-down and shortened version of the familiar Gangs of London formula.
The production values and cinematography were top-notch, making Steal feel like an AAA show. Not that I expected anything less, but sometimes these British shows do have a grainy and “intentionally low-key production values” vibe about them. The characters are relatable, albeit a bit one-dimensional. I empathized deeply with Sophie’s character as I’m in a somewhat similar position in real life. The criminals have such facial features that it’s like someone assembled the most memorable faces you could ever come across. Add to this the usual twists and turns, a subgenre hallmark, and you’ve got yourself a binger. Is that even a word, a binger?
As I previously mentioned, this first season ties up all the loose ends, making Steal a television show worthy of a binge. Six episodes averaging about a 40-minute runtime make for one hell of a day. However, there is room for a season two, which remains unconfirmed at this point. And that point is late February of 2026. Finally, if you’re looking for something similar, I recommend you check out another cool British heist series, The Gold. That one is based on true events following the infamous 1983 Brink’s-Mat robbery.
I think it will be especially interesting to compare the two heists as they’re separated by four decades. However, you should know that the latter one is far grittier and more serious than the one we were talking about today. And one more thing before I go, did you notice the background music in Steal? I can’t say that I have, but it seems to have bothered a lot of people.
Creator: Sotiris Nikias
Directors: Sam Miller, Hettie Macdonald
Writers: Sotiris Nikias, Poppy Cogan, Shyam Popat
Cast: Sophie Turner, Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, Archie Madekwe, Andrew Howard, Ellie James
Fun Facts: Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, who plays DCI Rhys Covac, talked to real investigators and proffesional poker players to further immerse himself in the role.
Rating:
IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32499731/
