Wrong Reasons – As the first episode of Piglets begins, Paul’s dad (Nick Bartlett) and brother (Dillion Scott-Lewis) rush to get Paul (Jamie Bisping) to the police training school. Paul is thrown out at the Norbourne Police Training College. The trainees go inside and get their badges. Superintendent Bob Weekes (Mark Heap) tells Superintendent Julie Spry (Sarah Parish) that he never tires of this bit. Stephanie Jackson (Callie Cooke) comes in and talks to another trainee. Afia (Halema Hussain) and Leggo (Sam Pote) introduce themselves. Leggo says he was forced into the force because it’s a family business.

Paul is a bit sweaty, but he insists he loves the police. Chief Superintendent Cunningham (Colin McFarlane) speaks to the crowd. He tells everyone that Bob and Julie will be their parents for the next four and a half months. Paul ends up passing out. Later, Stephanie tries to change to B group instead of C. She attempts to get Melanie to swap her out with someone else. Stephanie leaves once she’s been switched. She joins the others as Bob speaks and Julie stands nearby. Julie says one person is there for the wrong reason and she’ll find out who. Once they’re alone, Leggo claims Julie was trying to turn them against each other. Outside Sergeant Daz Black (Ricky Champ) tells the trainees he’s not the typical trainer.

He manages to get Leggo to reveal his real name, Ryan Legland. Daz orders Ryan to try to take him down. Leggo tries to kick him in the privates, but that doesn’t image Daz at all. Then, Daz argues with Stephanie about nouns and puppies. He tells everyone that he went a little too far once. Afia thinks they’ll base a major television series on her life in the force one day. Sergeant Mike Gunn (Ukweli Roach) comes in and introduces himself to B group. Stephanie quickly makes her move and leaves Mike speechless. He talks to her in private because he thinks this is crazy. Mike doesn’t think she can hack this. Stephanie insists she’s going to be a good police officer. She says Mike won’t be able to handle it and he’ll be obsessed with her again.

Devon (Abdul Sessay) tells Paul that he’s actually an actor too although he doesn’t seem to have any credits. Paul warns him he’s wearing ladies’ underwear like his mom. Dev tells him to worry about his own pants. Paul tells Leggo he can’t get thrown out of this place although it wasn’t his idea. Leggo believes Julie has found out he doesn’t want to be there so Paul has nothing to worry about. Dev comes back to make sure no one tells the girls about his pants. While attending a class about drugs, Stephanie notices Gunn with another woman nearby. She comes up with an excuse to leave. She throws a chair from above and misses the woman. Then, she returns to the presentation. Paul quickly shows he knows the names of the drugs but tries to pretend he doesn’t seconds later.

During lunch, Afia tells Stephanie she’ll die if they throw her out. She uses her Muslim sense to learn that Steph came there because she got dumped by some guy who is a trainer there. Afia confesses she looked her up on Facebook and found out. Geeta (Sukh Ojla) is asked about Hindus casting spells when she joins them. Geeta admits she’s there because she’s trying to spend less time with her family. Steph confronts Mike to say she’s not flaky. She tries to prove him wrong about saying she was afraid to get her hands dirty and that she was selfish. Mike approaches Melanie to ask for a room swap so he can avoid someone. Then, he speaks to Julie and Bob about the situation. Julie says previous relationships are fine as long as they remain previous.

Leggo comes in and accuses Julie and Bob of having an affair. Julie says they know the real reason he’s there. They know who his father is. Bob says it’s Chief Superintendent Timothy Legland. There’s also his mom Assistant Chief Constable Phillipa Legland. They’re not going to kick him out. Julie warns Leggo she can be a lot more annoying than him. Later, Julie tells everyone they’re here for the wrong reason. She kicks out one recruit for being a member of a far-right group. Cunningham stops Julie to tell her they have a prune in the group. Julie tells Bob they have an informant. She asks him to keep an eye out because it could be something subtle. When Paul’s family arrives, he climbs through the car window. Their vehicle is chased by a police car.

 

Piglets Review

The ITV comedy Piglets tells the story of six recruits at a police training college. Each is different in various ways. For instance, Paul seems to be there for nefarious reasons since his family are probably criminals. Leggo was forced into it by his parents who are members of law enforcement.

Stephanie is there because she wants to get back with her ex Mike Gunn who is a trainer at the college. The trainers are just as quirky as the recruits. The situations could become humorous as the story progresses and the training picks up, but the opening episode was hit and miss.

The episode was very easy to watch since the show requires little to nothing from viewers. After all, there’s nothing to ponder or think about. The performances are okay for the most part. Most of the cast is trying hard here although not every scene is going to be a homerun. The biggest concern here is the comedy because I didn’t laugh at anything in the first episode.

This reminds me a little of Babylon but that series was significantly stronger and more dynamic. Truthfully, Piglets is going to be an acquired taste that will likely receive more hate than praise. The opening episode scores a 5 out of 10. Recaps of Piglets can be found on Reel Mockery here.

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