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CB Strike review: When a London fashionista falls to her death, Strike goes looking for her killer

Strike and his assistant Robin investigate the apparent suicide of supermodel Lula Landry after she is found dead outside her apartment right after a party.
UPDATED JAN 30, 2020
J.K. Rowling (Source: Getty Images)
J.K. Rowling (Source: Getty Images)

The much-awaited Cormoran Strike is finally on television. The first part of the three-part miniseries based on JK Rowling's books is out on Cinemax.

The first part of season 1, 'The Cuckoo's Calling,' is really amazing.

This season will be followed by 'The Silkworm' and 'Career of Evil.' 

As the story goes, Strike (Tom Burke) is a war veteran struggling with life. A borderline alcoholic, he smokes too much, brushes in his dingy office (which is also his home), is sort of bear-like and has a leg missing.

He lost it during one of his missions in Afghanistan. Since he cannot run too well, he decides to become a private investigator. He's got an office space on Demark Street but would rather spend the day at the local pub. Surprisingly, he's also the son of a rockstar and a supermodel.

One fine day, the exact same time that his girlfriend Charlotte is breaking up with him, a temp walks into his building. Meet Robin Ellacott (Holliday Grainger). Strike gives us a sneak peek at his crazy reflexes as he grabs Robin by the collar after he catches her off guard causing her to almost topple over backward.

Robin joins him as an assistant as it turns out she had come to meet Strike himself. She's extremely intelligent, sweet and very hands-on, surprisingly. God knows how she managed to get that coffee for the client when we clearly know Strike is not the type to stock up on beverages. Or rather, anything edible. Even if he did, it would probably be expired. 

Their client is John Bristow (Leo Bill), the adoptive brother of supermodel Lula Landry (Elarica Johnson). Yes, it's the same waitress that Harry Potter had met before disappearing with Dumbledore in 'Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince'. Did Rowling have something to do with this? We know she has issues letting go.

Moving on, Lula is found dead on the pavement outside her apartment right after a party. Landry's stepbrother approaches Strike to find out what happened. At first, he's not interested because it looks like a suicide but when a witness reneges, Strike knows something is wrong. John is Charlie's sibling - a school friend of Strike who died mysteriously after falling into a quarry.

The police seem to not want anything to do with the case because the incident happened three months ago. Strike tries to get DI Eric Wardle (Killian Scott) to reopen the case as a possible homicide but he is ignored. This is when he takes matters into his own hands, he starts asking questions to anyone connected to Lula. After stalking her on social media for a bit, Robin finds a friend (or foe) of Lula, named Rochelle. They are convinced that she could give them some answers. 

They hunt her down but she escapes. He goes down to her hostel. After Strike pays a prostitute to distract the warden, he gets her address and as he reaches her door, he sees the doorway is wet and steaming. He barges in to find her boiled like a soup in her bathtub - she has been murdered.

The episode establishes the characters of Strike, Robin and their Batman and Robin relationship. Of course, there's the whole will-they-won't-they chemistry right from the start, but from the looks of it, these two will be platonic for a bit. 

Major spoilers ahead.

'The Cuckoo's Calling' is full of unpredictable turns. The twist in terms of Lula's brother and heritage really seems to drop out of nowhere and so does the affair that Tansy has with Tony, Lula's uncle. There's drama, there's suspense and there's plenty of the glitterati life. And the fact that Strike ends up revealing two murders - of Lula and Charlie, was pretty unforeseen. 

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