Once Upon a Twilight!: A Night At The #SPOTLESS Screening!

Set in London, SPOTLESS is the story of a troubled crime scene cleaner, Jean, whose tidy life is turned upside down when his outlaw brother Martin crash lands into his world, entangling them in the deadly dynamics of organized crime.

Creators: Corinne Marrinan, Ed McCardie

Stars: Marc-André Grondin, Denis Ménochet, Miranda Raison

The room is alive and buzzing. As I sip on my aptly named cocktail “The Drug Mule”, courtesy of SPOTLESS and Esquire Network, I notice that the actors of the show were being escorted away at 6:35 P.M. The showing wasn’t until 7 P.M so that left about 25 minutes of me trying to eye down the lady with the Swedish Meatballs, the guy with the Chicken Sliders and the other lady with the Seared Ahi Tuna Crisp.

I was trying to keep an eye on the time as well as soak in the environment, and maybe find someone who went solo like me to talk to about expectations and such. As the time gets closer to 7:00, the room is still bustling with the chitchat of those present, as well as the final call for drinks. I overheard the bartenders say that they were going to start asking people to find their seats soon so I went to the table with the endless popcorn, got my bucket, drink in hand, and made my way into the theater.

Walking into the theater I noticed three rows with names on them – these were reserved for the Esquire Network execs. I gladly sat next to three gentlemen with long beards that, upon asking if it took them long to grow it, I find out that they are part of what they call, “ The Beard Club”. I thought they were joking and turns out they weren’t, so that made me chuckle even more. 7:10 comes and, Carrie Keagan, microphone in hands, lets us know it is time for the viewing and asks if we are excited because she sure is!

Without further ado, the lights dim and the show begins with Tanya Fear’s character Claire and Marc-André Grondin’s character Jean, in a pretty heavy conversation (which turns out to be a twisted form of foreplay, since his answers are real and reveal his dark, disturbed thoughts and emotions, and you can tell they have an interesting bond). We don’t know he has a wife and two kids until he gets home to find that his brother Martin has appeared out of nowhere. Although the visit seems harmless, he knows better. Amidst of the commotion going on in his life and the things he is having to go through with his brother, he keeps having flashbacks to a disturbing moment when they were both kids and when he saved his brother’s life. Even though Jean seems clearly frustrated with his brother Martin, he obviously loves him and would do, and has done, anything for him.

We were also given a sneak peek of the second episode and let me just tell you – a part of me forgot I was in a movie theater and I felt as if I was at home watching Netflix, preparing myself for a serious binge watching marathon. When the second episode cut off, my first thought was “No!!! I need to know what happens!!” That, my friends, is a good indication of just how this show will suck you in and leave you begging for more. Right off the bat, it becomes more than just a story of brotherhood – it’s got blood and guts, and you’d be surprised how much humor they’ve injected into this beautiful and captivating show.

During the Q&A, there was a phrase that co-creator Ed McCardie said that stuck with me and I feel really captures the essence of the show: “warped moral sense”. Jean is battling, in his mind, with the brother he’d like to have, rather than the brother he does have. Martin is definitely the most honest– he is already loveable through the humor he effortlessly brings into the show, but he is also the most versatile and acts out of pure instincts (Ed McCardie). Jean on the other hand is careful, calculating and seems to just want to be in peace and not be involved in anything, but you can tell he still gets his kicks through his crime-scene clean up business.

Overall, do I think you should watch this show and get sucked into it? Yes. Are the characters loveable? Yes (especially Marc-André… in person he is so much hotter and so nice!). If you are a fan of Breaking Bad and Dexter, you will definitely be into this show. I just wish it were next week already so that I can find out what happens at the end of the episode!

SPOTLESS already has ten episodes filmed, with the first episode that premiered last night. You can watch it on Esquire Network on Saturdays at 10/9C (check with your cable/satellite provider for channel info).