Down on his luck after losing his job, '60s activist/ex-con Hap Collins can't help but listen when his seductive former wife Trudy, for whom he still pines, resurfaces with promises of finding a sunken treasure in the Deep South. Joining the adventure is Hap's unlikely buddy Leonard Pine, an openly gay black Vietnam War vet with a bad temper and little use for Trudy's feminine wiles. Soon enough the simple get-rich-quick scheme snowballs into bloody mayhem.
The unevenness is not a deal-breaker. When Hap and Leonard does strike the right swampy tone, and you sense the alligators waiting for a human snack, it's rich.
The show has atmosphere aplenty -- that's one excellent quality it shares with Mickle and Damici's Cold In July; Hap and Leonard could use more of that film's tightly-coiled suspense.
Hap and Leonard adapts Joe R. Lansdale's novels (which I'm now eager to read) into a terrifically offbeat caper, serving up a sultry, sexy stew of wry dark humor with flashes of psycho suspense.
Hap and Leonard is full of memorable characters that it introduces with panache then idles with, reiterating what we already know, a #longform piece that would be better if it were not so long. (Brevity! Remember when it was the soul of wit?)
This sweaty, savory swamp noir is the most deserving heir apparent yet to Justified, teeming with larger-than-life characters and delectably spiced with rich Texan flavor.
As the Southern day gets hotter, Hap and Leonard just gets more and more entertaining. It will be too slow for some, but you're likely to enjoy the heat.
