The Five Netflix Series Review

The Five (2016/2017-)
Season 1 - 10 episodes (2016 Sky1/2017 Netflix)

Watch The Five on Netflix
Created by: Harlan Coben
Starring: Tom Cullen, O.T. Fagbenle, Lee Ingleby, Sarah Solemani
Rating: TV-MA

Plot
Twenty years after Mark and his three young friends believed Mark's brother was killed, though never found, the supposedly dead brother's DNA is found at a crime scene. The four friends reunite to find the missing person.

Verdict
This British mystery provides a refreshing story. It's not another tale about a killer, but focuses on a missing boy and the lives impacted in the wake of that traumatic event. Thankfully it has a plausible conclusion and answers the questions surrounding the mystery, something other British, Netflix dramas haven't been able to manage.
The characters have been trying to reconcile the disappearance for years, and this new evidence stirs up all their old emotions. The conclusion leaves you with a moral question. Instead of a surprise twist that shocks, this question makes a lasting impact. Two wrongs don't make a right. but you can argue whether the events worked out better.
Watch it.

Review
This premiered in the UK in April 2016 before Netflix picked up distribution rights. A follow up eight part series The Four is in the works.
This series is written by best selling author Harlan Coben, with this being his  first original television series venture. He has another series with Michael C. Hall coming to Netflix in 2018, Safe.

Episode 10 - The kids twenty years ago.

Episode 1 - The kids today.

This has the usual twists and turns of mysteries, and the flipping from past to present in the first couple of episode gave this a strong Cold Case vibe. It's a great pilot that by flipping between time periods, it gives the episode a lot of impact. We don't know these characters but we project a lot on these kids involved in this potential crime and how that has impacted their lives.
A complex set of characters are living their own lives when a DNA evidence causes them to relive the past.While it can seem a bit contrived when all the pieces and characters matter and fit into the story perfectly, the intertwining stories never become confusing.

Episode 1 - One of the kids grew up to be a cop, convenient.

Mark's brother Jesse's disappearance made them who they are in large and small degrees. They've suppressed the past, but now it's here and they have to deal with it all over again. With these new revelations, some of them have to confront their guilt and secrets.

The pilot was engrossing, but Netflix's British crime thrillers have started well and often devolved, read my Marcella review or my Paranoid review. Marcella left big questions unanswered and I quit caring about answers just a few episodes into Paranoid as it became less a crime procedural and more a soap opera. Thankfully The Five doesn't suffer the same fate.

It does become a bit too interconnected as everything ties to the case perfectly, but that's balanced with how personal the drama is. All of these characters have a stake in the disappearance whether one of them should have walked Jesse home or been nicer to him. The big question is how does Jesse's DNA turn up at a crime scene. Is he a criminal? Is it some kind of ploy?

Episode 2 - Watch out for one hit wonder music artists.

There's some misdirection, because of course there is in a show like this. None of the episodes felt like filler though. One of the kids grew up to become a cop and he provides his friends with a lot of access and information as he propels the plot. He faces no repercussions while frequently warning them he shouldn't disclose this information. It just seemed a bit reckless on his part, and slightly careless on the show's part.

Episode 3

The story is self contained to season one. There are no cliff hangers and we get a full explanation. I liked the ending because it was logical. This whole season hinges on the DNA at the crime scene and that revelation was quite clever and plausible. With a second season in the works, I don't know what it would cover as this story is done.