Currently watching: Take Five

When I mentioned this before, I suggested that it might be a weekly version of The Thieves. Well, with no martial arts involved, perhaps it's more Ocean's Eleven than Thieves, but you have to admire the ambition of the producers. Given the limitations of a mid-budget Japanese drama, this has a certain style about it.

Some retired criminals are brought back into service once they find out about a stash of riches in the vault of a corrupt trust fund. Something like that, anyway. I got the feeling that the motive really wasn't too important. There's the gang of cunning thieves, the determined cop who's always one step behind, and two enigmatic types: a homeless woman who seems to know more that she should, and a detective who's watching the gang closely, apparently doing some stealing of his own.

At the moment, none of the characters stand out. The appeal of the first episode was the break in and back out again. Who these people are and how they grow as a team is still to be decided. But we've already had flashbacks to an unhappy childhood, which will probably be the cause of some emotional acting before long.

It's good, but this is now the third new drama of the season that shows promise but hasn't really grabbed me.