After three interesting episodes that completely gripped the audience’s attention, the mini-series Jurm came to its conclusion on the fourth episode. And we must say, what an underwhelming ending to what was set to be a very promising and unforgettable thriller.
This review will contain SPOILERS. Reader’s discretion is advised.
A Promising Start Goes Bust
Jurm started on a very promising note. Our initial review of the drama based on its first two episodes was full of praises for its tight screenplay and direction.
Do we take our words back? Not necessarily. Because those episodes definitely warranted praise. It’s just the finale which falls completely flat on its face.
Jurm’s last episode feels so utterly disjointed from the story it was supposedly telling until episode three that it took us some time really digest it. The final reveal about what really happened on the night of the incident turned out to be so bafflingly uninteresting that we were left scratching our heads and hoping that maybe the final two minutes will be where the actual plot twist happens.
We were hoping against hope that the intense suspense thriller drama which gave us many plot twists in its first two episodes will pull that one final trick from up its sleeve and manage to wow us again. But, alas. None of that happens.
The Driver Did It!
So, it turns out the driver did indeed do it. There was no sinister darkness in either Daniyal or his family or Samia that had orchestrated this entire thing. Heck, there wasn’t even something super interesting like Aila herself being the mastermind behind her own kidnapping to take revenge from Daniyal for fooling her. Nope, it was just plain old boring driver who did it. Yawn.
Jurm with the way it was revealing and withholding information about the characters really had us believe that something extremely evil was afoot because of what appeared to be wasn’t what actually was. It started with the suspicious way Daniyal went from being annoyed by Aila’s interest in him to him being married to her within a year.
The cuts between the past and present had the audience questioning all character’s motives and actions. As a viewer we couldn’t help but make our theories about what could possibly be the reason this tragedy happened? Was it even a tragedy? Everything was so interesting when it was shrouded in mystery!
But nope, the driver did it. It was the driver all along.
Where’s the Fault?
Jurm’s crime is definitely building up the narrative to be something it clearly ended up not being. When the audience is given the vibes of a mystery that questions the viewer’s thinking on every step and challenges it through the narrative, the reveal being so absurdly simple feels like a betrayal.
Why promise something you can’t deliver? Why show the characters having intense passionate desires that maybe pushed them to commit crimes to fulfill those desires only to have the reveal being as pathetic as the driver doing it all for some extra money and failing? Why call it Jurm when no jurm happened? Call it Ghalti cuz that’s what it is.
The Only Decent Twist
The only decent twist Jurm managed to pull in its finale was how it turned out to be Shahana (Atiqa Odho) who ended up saving the day for her son. The character which was shown to be of a shallow woman with her crystals and meditations turned out to be the smartest of them all with the way she got the confession from criminal.
Wahaj Ali Excites (As Usual)
To the show’s credit it had some brilliant performances. Wahaj Ali, who didn’t have a lot to do in the first two episodes (cuz everything had to remain “mysterious”), got to fully shine in the last two episodes. And as expected from him, he gave a brilliant performance.
His chemistry with Tooba Siddiqui was the standout surprise. Daniyal and Samia’s secret romance, though brief, lent heart to this otherwise thrilling series. Something that was actually supposed to be done with Dur-e-Fishan Saleem but the way her character, despite being at the center of the entire thing, was treated as barely anything more than an afterthought is another jurm in itself.
Dur-e-Fishan is Forgettable
Dur-e-Fishan was entirely forgettable in the drama, just as Aila was forgotten. An offscreen death and no particular mention of how her death impacted the lives of the characters left behind?
C’mon! Justice would be if Aila came back from the dead and haunted all these people who entirely stopped caring for her the minute she was gone. We can call the sequel “Khauf – Aila Ka Badla”. Dur-e-Fishan herself was a far cry away from her usual self and maybe murder mysteries may not be her thing, as much as the saddened damsel in distress.
Questions Left Unanswered
Some major questions left unanswered, the answers we got turning out to be underwhelming, and a final reveal that was so entirely boring all add to make Jurm a disappointment.
The mini-series tricks you with the promise of being something mind blowing only to go down the usual route for Pakistani dramas that allow no place for complexities. The answer always has to be simple even if its at the risk of being underwhelming.
We guess the real jurm was committed by us; the jurm of expecting better. Unfortunately, as long as we continue to be attached to Pakistani dramas, we will continue to commit this jurm. And maybe one day we’ll finally manage to strike gold.
