This show is a winner. Which is a relief after a slew of so-so material.

That’s the problem with TV, even despite the reviews, you’re never quite sure whether you’re getting something traditional, maybe just a small step step better than network fare, or something deep which is equivalent to a movie.

You might have read that the new “Mario” movie is doing boffo at the b.o. Seems like parents want to take the kiddies out. The only people who aren’t being serviced at the theatre are those with a brain, those who remember when movies moved the culture. Unfortunately, too many of these people, mostly boomers, pooh-pooh what’s on television, and that’s a grave mistake.

Should I mention the losers we watched? Well, not exactly losers, but stuff that isn’t good enough for me to recommend.

There was “That Night,” a Spanish show on Netflix, which got some great reviews. Acting, plotting, everything was really good except for the tone, which alternated between being too light to serious, frivolous to intense. I enjoyed it, but if I’d never seen it, that would be okay.

And then there was “Outrageous” on BritBox, whose main flaw was that it stopped in the middle of the story and as of now, a second season has not been commissioned. It’s a true story about this aristocratic family in the U.K. prior to World War II whose members take opposite political sides, one is a communist eager to fight in Spain, another is involved with the fascist Oswald Mosley. Once again, the tone is too often light, yet there are good things about relationships and a peek into thirties Germany but the fact that the viewer is left hanging was unsatisfying.

Then I wanted to watch “Gone” on BritBox, but it turned out it wasn’t on BritBox yet. Reviews were stellar, but JustWatch.com told me I was out of luck.

And that’s when we decided to watch “Payback.”

Now I’d never heard of it. even though it was first released in the U.K. two and a half years ago. I.e. the buzz didn’t translate across the pond. And the reviews were not as good as those of “Gone,” but we were in a U.K. kind of mood, so we dove in, and were hooked from the first instant.

That’s what I want from a television series, to be taken away. Not so much to suspend disbelief, as a matter of fact the grittier and more true to life a show is, the more I like it. But if a show is good enough not only am I hooked, the rest of the world falls away. And this is hard to achieve, even in the theatre people are on their smartphones.

I want to be invested. I want to know the people, the nuances, which is why I prefer series to movies.

So, all you’ve got to know here is “Payback” stars Peter Mullan, who you’ll recognize instantly, but you may not be sure where from… But research will tell you he played the evil Jacob Snell in “Ozark.” You remember, he and his wife used their land to grow poppies…

In “Ozark,” a phenomenal show if you haven’t seen it, Snell is not only a criminal, he’s a bad guy, a local who threatens Jason Bateman’s Marty Byrde. Byrde can never quite relax around Snell. And in “Payback,” the character Mullan plays is just one step more intense.

Not over the top in an American series way, but you constantly see the iron fist inside the velvet glove. Most of the time Mullan’s Cal Norris is calm, anything but a hothead, running legitimate businesses, even being friendly, but he’s got to get his way, you cannot cross him, and if you do… I mean I’m watching the show and I feel threatened!

On the other side of the equation is Morven Christie, who was in one of my favorite streaming series ever, “The A-Word,” set in the Lake District north of Manchester. Morven’s Alison Hughes is the mother of autistic child Joe, who is soothed by rock music on his headphones and… “The A-Word” is not a sappy, heartstring-puller. It’s real, which means you see moments of warmth and exasperation.

So in “Payback,” Morven Christie’s Lexie Noble is forced to work for Mullan’s Cal Norris and there’s a death and the police are involved, however…

This is not the usual police show, focusing on the officers figuring out what went down and who is guilty. Rather it’s all about Lexie being stuck in the middle between the law and the criminal and trying to navigate the situation not to her advantage, but so that she and her children will survive.

“Payback” is not predictable. Once you think you know where it’s going, it twists, ever so slightly, not unbelievably, and you’re kept on your toes.

As for the rest of the cast, you will recognize Prasanna Puwanarajah as the pharmacist in “Line of Duty,” which I hope you’ve seen, this show about “bent coppers.” However, Puwanarajah is not the bumbling guy he was in that series. In “Payback” he plays a financial investigator for the police.

As for the police…you will recognize Andi Osho as DI Royce. She too was in “Line of Duty,” but you’ll know her from a slew of other shows too. And Osho always projects competence, but is she the good person here, does she even know what is going on?

And Derek Riddell plays DCI Adam Guthrie. And the question is raised in the series, is he ultimately trustworthy? Are cops in general trustworthy or do you have to look out for yourself?

I don’t want to tell you any more, because it’s the twists and turns that keep you invested.

But mostly Peter Mullan… Can the law ever compete with criminals? But it’s his intensity that shakes you, I was scared of him and he was on my TV screen!

Two thumbs up, I wholeheartedly recommend “Payback.”

Albums where the best song is not the single.

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I know you’re time-challenged. I know you think almost all news is biased. Having said that, I highly recommend this Bulwark podcast wherein Anne Applebaum goes deep into what is going on in the Hungary election as well as Ukraine and the U.S. This is the most cogent, most thorough analysis of what is going on over there that I’ve encountered. Applebaum is an expert in this area. She is not histrionic, she just lays it down straight. If you want a perspective on world affairs that is easy to understand but will leave you with your jaw dropped, this is the place.

Why does everybody think they’re so special, why are they convinced the rules don’t apply to them?

So I decided to run down the hill to get lunch and a few other items at Whole Foods. Now when Whole Foods came to L.A., they took over this chain Westward Ho, whose stores were small and its parking lots compact in accordance with the market’s size.

Now at this point, Whole Foods has been opening up superstores, with wide aisles, plenty of inventory and plenty of parking.

But down the hill from me…

Frustrated me that there were five men in the deli department and not one would help me. I have sympathy, I wouldn’t want to do this job either, but they’re standing around b.s.’ing and what do they say, time is money? We’re all overscheduled and we all want it quick. If you’re selling commodities, the process should be smooth and easy. If you’re selling bespoke items, if you’re selling service, it’s a whole other ballgame. Then you must have enough employees so when I walk in the store I’m helped immediately, although I’m willing to have an experience, to spend some time, to bond with the salesperson, learn about the product. But not at Whole Foods.

But what really bugged me today at Whole Foods, what I contemplate every time I go to this one former Westward Ho close to my abode, is the difficulty, at some times the impossibility, of getting a parking space.

Now there were fewer than two hands worth of shoppers in the store. I covered the aisles. But in the parking lot? There were over fifty cars, I had trouble getting a space.

So what was up with the extra cars?

Well, this Whole Foods is right by a freeway interchange, so people leave their cars in the parking lot and they’re picked up, sometimes they leave their automobiles all day long. After all, it’s just one car, what difference does it make, everybody does it, right?

Now when I was growing up, reading about crimes by politicians, I thought enough sunlight, enough press, would radically reduce these illegal acts. But no, every generation comes along with its own strategies to bend the rules, rip the public off. I mean you’re an elected official and doing it in plain sight?

Now one of the other things that sticks in my craw…

I don’t know if you’re following this…

Up to 40% of Stanford students have registered disabilities, they get special accommodations, like extra time on tests. Now it’s one thing if you’re going to a community college, but STANFORD? And at the Ivys and other elite institutions the rate is 20% or more. The best and the brightest get to have a thumb on the scale?

As Bob Dylan sang:

“Now each of us has his own special gift

And you know this was meant to be true

And if you don’t underestimate me

I won’t underestimate you.”

Everybody’s good at something. Maybe it’s not school. Or maybe you should attend a school where the weather matches your clothes…

But the dirty little secret is most of these kids are gaming the system. They’ve got parents who can pay for a diagnosis, whereas the rank and file don’t have this privilege so they’re squeezed out.

And now it’s the California Bar Exam!

Forget that they recently made it shorter and easier, because very few could pass, but now 14% of test takers have registered disabilities, they can be as simple as anxiety.

I’VE GOT ANXIETY! And believe me, it was sky high when I took the bar exam. A friend saw someone pull over and puke on the way to the test. The bar exam is supposed to be a level playing field, the same rules apply to all. Only now they don’t. Furthermore, if this person needs special accommodation, do I really want them representing me as my lawyer? I mean if they need extra time on the bar exam…

Of course there are those who are truly disabled, and they need cutouts in sidewalks and other benefits, but that’s not what we’re talking about here, most of these people are gaming the system.

Then again, it comes from the top down. Trump is against mail-in voting, yet he just voted by mail. What did he say? That he is president, the rules are different for him.

Don’t we know it, the rules are completely different for the rich, who do their best to not even rub elbows with the hoi polloi. You get an expensive lawyer who knows the prosecutor and the judge and your kid gets off with probation whereas those less fortunate go to jail.

And concert tickets… One way to keep prices low would be to tie the ticket to the purchaser. But the public doesn’t want this. Because they want to be able to scalp their extra tickets. Wouldn’t be fair to deprive them of this upside, and they’re not like the big scalpers, right?

Well, the little things add up.

Want to really protest? Litter. Or maybe smoke. When I see someone throw junk out the window of their car… I mean who hasn’t gotten the message, they know what they’re doing, they just think it’s one little piece of garbage and it doesn’t make a difference, but it does, it all adds up!

Even NIMBYISM. Don’t want those people living in my neighborhood… So where they should live?

Or this belief that you should not pay taxes… You drive on the roads, don’t you? You like having a police force and the fire department just a phone call away. Who is supposed to pay for this?

SOMEONE ELSE!

Got to be the takers.

Everybody rationalizes their breaking of the rules, it’s not their fault, but someone else’s, they’re just keeping up with the Joneses, everybody does it.

And everybody sometimes does do it. Sometimes the speed limit is set too low, and in California they raise it. Not every law is sound. But a ton of them are.

People brag about cutting corners, getting ahead. And then you’ve got the corporations using their leverage… Microsoft made manufacturers pay for Windows on their computers even if they installed Linux.

I don’t think life will ever be fair. But it could be more fair than it is today. But that would require us all to agree we live in a society, that we’re in it together. And ultimately we do. You can live behind a wall with a security guard and that doesn’t mean you’re totally immune to crime.

Everywhere in America people don’t want to wait their turn. I get it, you’re time-challenged, but sometimes to get what you want you have to. But there’s very little you need to have.

And who can you complain to? Who is going to take up the cause?

And even if someone did, they’d be seen as a goody-goody, impinging on the rights of others. After all, they had to leave their car in the Whole Foods parking lot because otherwise they’d have to pay for parking at their job. You don’t want them to have to do that, do you?

Then again, their job might give them just enough hours not to pay benefits, never mind a wage that they can live on.

The older I get I know there is no solution.

But that does not mean it doesn’t bother me.