‘Kaleidoscope’ series review: A well-executed non-linear caper from Netflix

Giancarlo Esposito and Tati Gabrielle in a still from ‘Kaleidoscope’
| Photo Credit: Netflix

Heists are always fun — no, I am not confessing to criminal intent. Heists on screen always remind me of whiling away summer vacations reading James Hadley Chase. The novels with their intricate planning, the back stories of the chief players, the driven law enforcement officer doggedly on the trail, the heist, rivalries, jealousies, and betrayals that pull the plan apart, were irresistible.

Eric Garcia’s Kaleidoscope adds another twist to the mix — it is non-linear and viewers can watch seven of the eight episodes in any order, with the final episode being fixed. The episodes are named for colours and mention the time with respect to the heist.

One could watch Kaleidoscope chronologically, starting with Violet, which happens 24 years before the heist, to Pink, which is six months after the heist, but that would mean watching White, the heist episode that Garcia intended to be the finale, out of order.

I thought of watching the episodes in order of the rainbow, but there is no indigo and no space for the White and Pink episodes. Finally, I did the lazy thing and let Netflix decide for me, which worked swimmingly well as it gave me the illusion of control while making decisions for me.

Kaleidoscope tells the tale of criminal mastermind Leo Pap (Giancarlo Esposito) who puts together a crew to rob $7 billion in bearer bonds. The crew includes lawyer and weapons specialist Ava (Paz Vega), safe cracker Bob (Jai Courtney), his wife Judy (Rosaline Elbay), who is the chemical and explosives expert, Stan (Peter Mark Kendall), the smuggler and procurement person, and RJ (Jordan Mendoza), the driver.

The bearer bonds are in a supposedly impregnable vault that is protected by a corporate security firm, SLS, run by Roger Salas (Rufus Sewell). The bonds belong to three shady, powerful people called the Triplets.  To swing something of this size, there needs to be someone on the inside, and Leo’s inside person is his estranged daughter Hannah (Tati Gabrielle), who is the head of digital security at SLS.

The cracks in the plan appear even as Leo is setting it in motion. Bob is a loose cannon and gets shot in the hand (it is a two-handed safe he has to crack at SLS), Stan has feelings for Judy, Leo has a history with Salas, and an FBI agent Nazan (Niousha Noor) is tenaciously on their trail.

All the character types are presented in broad brush strokes. Leo has a degenerative medical condition and had a chance to go straight but for circumstances that forced him away from the straight and narrow. Ava, who is all well put together, has a dreadful past and a weak spot. Salas is smooth and powerful but also hides a secret that could destroy him, and RJ dances to a rhythm only he can hear. Judy has a darkness in her that only Bob can dispel, much to the bewilderment of gentle Stan. Nazan is struggling with substance abuse, fighting for custody of her son and her job, but cannot let go of Ava, who was responsible for her (Nazan’s) suspension. Nazan’s copy of Moby Dick underlines her Ahab-like fixation on Ava.

Scrupulously following all the genre rules, and there is comfort in that if done well, Kaleidoscope is a well-executed caper that is more than worth your time. And that chimera of control is unalloyed genius.

Kaleidoscope is currently streaming on Netflix