Bait, a limited series created by and starring Riz Ahmed, proves to be an immensely fun showcase for his talents as a multihyphenate. Ahmed plays struggling actor Shah Latif, whose life gets turned upside down after the news breaks out that he is auditioning for the role of James Bond. This premise leads to a bold and strong start, but the ending is ultimately unsatisfying and unearned.

Ahmed and his writers tap into the real-life rumors linking him with James Bond to deliver a sharp, enjoyable and satirical examination of what it would mean for a Muslim actor to actually take on the iconic role of 007. Bait deftly touches on cultural issues such as Islamophobia while commenting on the movie industry and its treatment of actors of colour in response to this. While the series unfortunately does not seek to offer up a resolution to the matters that it raises, the commentary that it offers up is sharply observed and delightfully biting. It also proves to be a welcome and authentic portrait of the Muslim community and the issues it faces, touching on underseen topics such as mental health, parental pressure and competitiveness within the community.

The series also shines as a character portrait of Shah, who proves to be a deeply human lead thanks to Ahmed’s performance and the writing. Shah’s arc of gradual deterioration and spiralling over the course of the series is very meaty material for Ahmed to sink his teeth into, and he shines in showing how Shah’s desperation and growing need to get the role progressively consume him. The show’s take at conveying Shah’s worsening mental state is bold and highly welcomed, involving a delightfully unexpected voiceover role from a celebrated British thespian too good to spoil here. It also proves unafraid to make its lead a layered character, with Ahmed capably playing Shah’s self-centeredness, prickliness and manipulative side, combating the more vulnerable moments he gets. The series overall is a showcase for Ahmed’s talent, such as sequences where Shah goes into actor mode that allow him to flex his acting muscles. 

The bold visual style and direction also really allow the audience to be placed within Shah’s manic and high-energy headspace, which certainly comes to the fore in Episode 4, which director Tom George executes with a series of bold, dynamic and showy one-takes.

Where the series falters, however, would be in its lack of depth and material given to its supporting cast and its inability to succeed as an emotionally earned family story. The compactness of its six episode run makes for a fun binge and a compelling portrait of the lead character, but the same cannot be said for its supporting cast who simply have too little room to really come into their own. The family dynamics that the show introduces do not really end up getting the profundity required for the finale and its emotional resolution to really ring true. A somewhat clumsy and obvious sequence that is meant to serve as a shortcut in fleshing out said dynamics is insufficient for the emotional resolution to land. With that being said, Guz Khan as Shah’s cousin Zulfi and Ritu Arya as Shah’s ex-girlfriend Yasmin manage to stand out among the supporting cast thanks to the instant chemistry they have with Ahmed. Both performers manage to perfectly convey the shared history they have with Shah despite their limited screentime. Khan brings a boisterous and welcome energy to the show, portraying Zulfi’s love for and slight resentment of Shah in a natural way, while Arya balances Yasmin’s fiery attitude towards Shah with an underlying sense of a painful shared history and lost love.

Bait proves to be a bold showcase for Riz Ahmed as an actor and a promising one for him as a creator. The compactness of the series proves to be a double-edged sword as it allows it to be a tightly focused and memorable character portrait of Ahmed’s Shah Latif; however, the limited runtime means that the finale and emotional resolution of the show, which relies heavily on family dynamics that it never really manages to flesh out in a satisfying manner, ultimately proves to be slightly unearned and lacking in resonance on an emotional front. Nonetheless, its originality, boldness and sharp commentary, coupled with a fantastic performance from Riz Ahmed still makes Bait a worthwhile watch.

7.5/10