The Consultant is a dark comedy series produced by Ann Kindberg, created and written by Tony Basgallop and is based on the 2016 novel of the same name by Bentley Little. The series has 8 episodes, each with a runtime of around 30 minutes and stars Christoph Waltz, Nat Wolff, Brittany O’Grady, Aimee Carrero and Brian Yoon, alongside other cast members.

Amazon Prime Video describes the series as:

After an unspeakable tragedy at CompWare, a games studio based in downtown Los Angeles, a mysterious Consultant, Regus Patoff, blows into town and takes charge.

– The Consultant Review Does Not Contain Spoilers –

The Consultant creates an intriguing mystery around the titular character from its first moment. It also does not shy away from creating the most bonkers series of situations that puts the mysterious Regus Patoff as the authority figure of CompWare after their boss gets brutally murdered in the most unexpected way. This all takes place in the first episode, and the series holds on to its tension rather effectively. Thus, your hopes are soaring high, and you look forward to figuring out what the rest of the show entails.

Patoff’s character is made with enough craziness that you love to hate him, yet you can’t help but follow him around. It’s not just the mystery surrounding the character; Patoff seems to be an enigma for the employees and the audience. Over the course of several initial episodes, I was left baffled, wondering what in the world was going on here.

Is Patoff not human? Is he really the devil? Or is he just a sociopath with sinister intentions? Or is he a cyborg/robot? There are a lot of questions that the series brings forward and holds on to for a generous amount of the runtime, along with introducing more and more bonkers stuff that just makes you want to scratch you brain.

The most interesting part, however, how the relationship changes in the office among the employees. What was once a chill workspace with your average nerds busting games out turns into a place for office Olympics with people scrambling up the stairs and over each other to get into a vacant office. The way the employees’ relationships change with Regus is fascinating to watch and a very interesting look into how people change in stressful situations.

Regus Patoff is, obviously, the unsung hero of the story, as in, he rules the story. He’s most definitely the “devil”, but there’s nothing more interesting than a mysterious boss who just swoops in one fine day, and everything just goes up in flames (somewhat literally). Christoph Waltz plays Regus Patoff a bit too well; it’s scary watching him be this cool and collected… cyborg? Sociopath? Questions galore, and the more you get answers, the more you are forced to ask…

What is Regus Patoff?!

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The series teases it deliciously throughout the first half of the runtime, along with showing us how our two employees, Elaine and Craig, change ever-so-slightly with each passing episode. Before long, they are shells of who they were, or maybe, Patoff was what they needed to “elevate” themselves and find their true selves.

The series asks some nice moral questions that will keep you on edge, and the ambiguous nature of the characters and their motivations is truly breathtaking and slightly frustrating. The Consultant isn’t joking around with the comedy or thriller aspect of it, although I found the dry, dark comedy to be lacking somewhat. However, it’s plenty thrilling and will keep you on the edge of your seat.

That being said, the ending can leave the viewers slightly confused. Who is Patoff? What was his goal? What happens to CompWare? These are questions that are slightly answered. But the biggest ones are left slightly up to our interpretation of him. I was left wondering about a lot of things that seemed bizarre in the grand scheme of things because I found this to be a clever psychological thriller about finding a new boss from hell one fine morning and how those under such a regime would do anything to keep their jobs.

But it seems like there’s something supernatural in the mix here that is not discussed all too well. And sure, I do love shows that ask us to think. But you can’t give me such an outlandish idea and expect me to come to a rational conclusion.

Summing Up: The Consultant

The Consultant is a bonkers show that is a psychologically twisted minefield. However, the ending keeps everything a bit too ambiguous, so much so that the biggest question remains unanswered, and with so much happening, the audience is unable to come to a rational conclusion and might just lean towards the supernatural.

The Consultant releases on Amazon Prime Video on February 24, 2023.

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