'Full Circle': Is Steven Soderbergh's drama with Claire Danes, Timothy Olyphant worth watching?

When a kidnapping goes wrong, an intricate web of secrets is revealed in Steven Soderbergh and Ed Solomon's six-episode Max limited series Full Circle (on Crave in Canada), starring Claire Danes, Timothy Olyphant, Zazie Beetz, Dennis Quaid, Jim Gaffigan and CCH Pounder.

What is 'Full Circle' about?

Set in New York City, Full Circle is largely a story centred around two families.

First we meet Mrs. Mahabir (Pounder), right after the death of her brother-in-law Quincy, who was murdered under the circumstances of a bad business deal. Disturbed by what happened, Mrs. Mahabir goes to Guayana, in an attempt to seek guidance on how to reverse this "curse" on her family.

That leads to Mrs. Mahabir enlisting the help of Xavier (Sheyi Cole), Louis (Gerald Jones) and her nephew Aked (Jharrel Jerome) to execute a kidnapping plan. But things don't go as expected when they abduct the wrong teen.

They were supposed to kidnap Jared (Ethan Stoddard), the son of wealthy couple Sam (Danes) and her husband Derek (Olyphant). Jared's parents are the brains behind Sam's father's business, the celebrity Chef Jeff, played by Quaid (sporting a disturbing ponytail hairstyle). At that point, this rich New York family has to decide whether to save this boy abducted in their son's place, while also trying to determine why anyone would want to kidnap their son.

At the same time Harmony (Beetz), a U.S. postal inspector, finds a link between this kidnapping plot and an existing case, but her boss Manny (Gaffigan) wants her nowhere near this investigation.

As the story unfolds, the connections between all these characters are revealed, going back decades.

Is 'Full Circle' worth watching?

While the intricate links connecting all the characters in Full Circle will keep many coming back for more, it will likely be the very thing that pushes others away.

Throughout the series, Full Circle teeters on the edge of Soderbergh and Solomon's narrative being too convoluted to connect the dots in a satisfying manner.

Full Circle very much exemplifies the concept of a "slow burn" mystery, where lies, secrets and unexpected connections are peeled back layer-by-layer in each episode. But it sometimes feels like the story is lumbering along versus compelling us forward to reach the resolution.

That's not to say the series doesn't have satisfyingly tense "oh sh-t" moments, paired with an intense score that can get your heart racing, but there is an ambitious number of plot points to keep track of, sometimes feeling like we missed opportunities to really feel invested in some of these characters.

Soderbergh relies on a significant amount exposition, particularly as we get near the end, and very much sticks to his pattern of telling stories that include an evaluation class structure and tensions in society.

Each person's desire to really sink their teeth into Full Circle really depends on how much you're willing to get yourself twisted into this story.