Get Shorty season 3

Adapted from the same book as the John Travolta film, the Get Shorty series follows a mobster (played by Chris O'Dowd) trying to get out of his violent profession and gradually becomes involved in the movie business but can't escape his past. The first two seasons were a lot of fun but here in the UK there isn't much of a buzz for the show and with COVID impacting on any future productions, this could be the show's final season. Nothing has been confirmed at the time of writing but with the show limiting itself on the American streaming site, Epix, I do wonder how far they can take this story considering this is meant to only be a light adaptation. 

Season 3 sees Miles Daly (O'Dowd) released from prison and sets about plotting his revenge that will be slow and calculated, unlike his violent former boss, Amara, who is now on the run in South America. Meanwhile, Rick is trying to find himself now Amara is gone and sets about writing a screenplay based on the last few years of his life, which of course can only end well! 

I was excited to get back into this series but was alarmed when I saw there would only be seven episodes this season. Would that be enough, and was this Epix trying conclude the story on a leaner schedule? I hate it when shows drag out the story to fill a quota but I had always found Get Shorty to be paced very well thanks to a solid gang of directors, and to the great cast. 

We still get a very good story with Miles but I do feel other areas suffered as a result, particularly with Rick who is now dropped in the background. The script is still sharp and witty with some nice satirical digs at the LA lifestyle here and there yet it can't escape feeling unsatisfying towards the end. We do get a cliff-hanger that could have been a neat ending to the series as a whole but somehow it doesn't feel like the show has earnt this. I don't want to spoil anything but there's a twist here which went too far and at that point, after being on a see-saw for this show, I landed on the disappointed side. 

Get Shorty season 3 certainly has its moments but this season just didn't work as well as what we had before. The show shines brightest when Miles is on the scene as he seeks revenge against Laurence while keeping up appearances in LA but everything else felt half-baked and really suffers from a lack of development with the limited number of episodes. If this is the end for the show, I'd still easily recommend it otherwise Epix might need to consider how much life this has left to avoid running it into the ground as other networks like Showtime have been known to do.