There are ironies to every justice system. “The Escape Artist,” a new two-part edition of PBS’s “Masterpiece Mystery,” zooms in on one of them — that the laws created to protect people from killers are sometimes the same laws that protect killers. It’s the kind of twist that, in its early years, “Law & Order” loved to pull out in the final act. Those old-fashioned pat endings where murderers are inevitably removed from society may make us feel safer and morally grounded, but — as many felt after George Zimmerman was acquitted in Trayvon Martin’s death — they aren’t the way courtrooms always work.
What makes “The Escape Artist” better than an episode of “Law & Order,” or the many other TV procedurals that now like to remind us of justice’s failures, is its emotional weight. You don’t just intellectualize the irony of legal protection as you watch; you feel it, with every pained, broken expression that crosses the face of our hero, the brilliant lawyer Will Burton. I sometimes think of irony as a cerebral phenomenon, but that is not the case in this BBC miniseries. Played by David Tennant in yet another commanding performance, Will goes on a journey that’s as emotionally potent as it is fascinating.
I don’t want to give much away here, which is particularly difficult with such a twisty story. So I’ll stay close to where it all starts. Will is famous for keeping his defendants out of jail, and he is quite proud of himself. After using legal dodges and darts to help free an obviously guilty creep named Liam Foyle (the unsettling Toby Kebbell), he tells a critic, “Everybody deserves a defense.” Those words, it is loud and clear, will come back to bite him before all is said and done in “The Escape Artist.” Even he knows on a semiconscious level that his professional expertise isn’t the same as moral superiority, as he cringes away from Liam’s handshake after the verdict is announced. He needs, and receives, a lesson in personal versus professional responsibility.
There are unbelievable plot turns and obvious foreshadowings in the script, which is by David Wolstencroft, particularly as the action becomes increasingly heated. Occasionally, logic is forsaken. But still “The Escape Artist” maintains its suspense despite the flaws, thanks to rich acting and smart direction. Director Brian Welsh manages to keep the tension up even when we know what’s about to happen. Welsh also delivers some lovely, haunting symbolic imagery involving reflections, birds, and balloons, one of which opens the premiere on Sunday at 9 p.m. He makes the simple act of shaking hands laden.
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Tennant, the former Doctor Who who stars in both the British “Broadchurch” and its upcoming American remake, “Gracepoint,” has an uncanny ability to be both smug and entirely sympathetic. With only a tiny touch more arrogance, he would jeopardize our bond with Will — a bond that is essential to the power of the entire story. But he knows how to adjust his performance down to the millimeter. As his wife, Ashley Jensen (from “Extras”) does a lot with a small amount of screen time, so that her character remains in play throughout. And, as one of Will’s competitive colleagues, newly minted Tony winner Sophie Okonedo is as mesmerizing as always. You can see all the miniseries’ big dilemmas and provocative ideas playing out in her eyes, just as they play in front of ours.
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Matthew Gilbert can be reached at gilbert@globe.com.
Follow him on Twitter @MatthewGilbert.