Television Review: 'Patience,' June 15, and streaming, PBS

NEW YORK (OSV News) – The British-Belgian crime drama “Patience” premieres on PBS Sunday, June 15, 8-9 p.m. EDT. The six-part series will continue in the same timeslot through July 20 while also streaming on station-based PBS platforms.

The show is adapted from a Franco-Belgian series that, as aired in the U.S., was also named for its protagonist, “Astrid.” Here the title character is Patience Evans. Played by Ella Maisy Purvis, Patience is an autistic detective whose role as consultant to the Yorkshire police force evolves from her originally humble assignment working in their criminal records office.

The effects of the aspiring sleuth’s condition are paradoxical. On the one hand, she struggles with simple changes to the mundane circumstances of everyday life.

Yet the same heightened sensitivity to basic human interaction and any kind of alteration to her surroundings that compromises Patience’s ability to function in society is also the essence of her deductive gift. This first manifests itself in her keen awareness of suspicious patterns in the records crossing her desk.

Spotting one such anomoly in documents relating to a series of presumed suicides, Patience convinces Det. Insp. Bea Metcalf (Laura Fraser, “Breaking Bad”), to open a murder investigation. Though Bea subsequently recruits Patience to consult on the case, when a link between the latter and one of the deceased is discovered, her character is called into question.

Bea is thus forced to decide how she feels about neurodivergence and whether it affects the trustworthiness of her new colleague. It’s a scenario that places the issue of disability in the workplace at the center of the story.

Flashbacks reveal a childhood during which a psychiatrist threatens Patience with institutionalization. “Can she be useful?” he demands of her father.

We see how this question hangs over Patience’s head. As she tries to summon the courage to share her theories with Bea early on, Patience declares to herself in response, “I can be useful.”

Overcoming widely shared prejudices, Bea seeks to bond with Patience and channel her unusual talent to help solve their first case together. As she works to assist Patience in moving beyond her previous boundaries, the two form a deep relationship often marked by unintended humor relating to their differences.

Endeavoring to gain a clearer understanding of Patience’s difficulties, Bea follows her to a support group meeting for autistic adults. There, the detective comes face-to-face with the challenges, frequently including outright ostracization, faced by those in Patience’s situation.

Bea and Patience’s initial case spans the first two episodes screened for review. Subsequent plots involve, among other topics, fossil smuggling and the death of a crime writer.

“Patience” is not only superbly acted but well-paced so that the multidimensional scope of its underlying story is given detailed exploration. While its subject matter is unsuitable for kids, teens and adults will appreciate the human dimension the program’s team of writers bring to the sometimes shallow criminal investigation genre.

Emotional complexity and social commentary further enhance the intriguing brainteasers with which viewers are presented. Individual TV fans are given much to ponder while “Patience” might also serve as the basis for a family discussion about the dignity of those afflicted with autism and the respect that ought to be shown to those contending with any form of disability.