Released last February, ‘The consultant’ proposed a sinister workplace nightmare on Amazon Prime Video through the story of a mobile game company that is taken over overnight by a mysterious man: Regus Patoff (Christoph Waltz). With half-hour episodes, it is one of the most addictive series so far in 2023.
The series is based on the homonymous novel by Bentley Little and its passage to the screen by Tony Basgallop (‘Servant’) has brought a few changes when it comes to portraying both this mysterious consultant and to give an end to the story. And, in my opinion, for the better.
The Faceless Monster
And it is that the last bars of the series leave us a bit with honey on our lips when deciding not to give us a clear answer about the Patoff’s true nature, something that the book solves. Playing on the labor fable aspect of the novel, Little depicts the consultant as a faceless, mouthless businessman who speaks directly into the minds of his employees.
In addition, the end of the novel presents us with a war between the different CompWare departmentscausing chaos and preventing any improvement in the company while Craig just waits for the authorities to manage to do something with this being that seems to not exist at a record level.
Something that changes slightly in the series, going almost to a philosophy of corporate disruption of “make or break” with a Elaine (Brittany O’Grady) seduced by Patoff’s ways assuming command of the company. Meanwhile, the sinister executive arrives at another company to corrupt. Which opens the door to a season 2.
It’s funny, but I would say that if the ending of the adaptation of ‘The Consultant’ works so well, it’s because although everything points in a certain direction, it leaves everything up in the air. Even the certainties that we have (yes, he has a gold skeleton) play a bit with that ambiguity in order to reinforce the fable.
“That was the idea, that it was the devil. The cliché that the boss is from hell, is that a figurative or literal statement?says Tony Basgallop. With that maxim, the writer has built the series and the character, giving it a much more human touch (Machiavellian, but human) than in the book.