Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The Outlaws’ Season 3 on Prime Video, where caper vibes continue to hamper the group’s community service (and lives)   (2024)

As The Outlaws drops its five-episode third installment in full on Prime Video, the oddball bunch of community service workers and unlikely friends who we’ve come to know over two very funny seasons are focusing on their personal lives, where relationships new and old are in flux. But as created by Stephen Merchant (the original, British The Office) and Elgin James (Mayans MC), The Outlaws has also continually found enjoyable ways to plunge these people into criminal doings, and it only takes a few scenes in the new season before they’re carrying around a dead body. The entire ensemble cast returns, including Merchant, Rhianne Barreto, Darren Boyd, Clare Perkins, Eleanor Tomlinson, Gamba Cole, and Christopher Walken, the latter in what it seems will be a more limited capacity. And don’t forget about Jessica Gunning, recently of Baby Reindeer, who’s just hilarious as Diane the community service officer in The Outlaws. “You lot, you’re this close to completin’ your hours, alright? So less attitude, more servitude!”

THE OUTLAWS – SEASON 3: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: It’s been six months since the events of The Outlaws season 2, and Rani (Barreto) is dressing in a London hotel room. “Lemme get my phone and we can swap deets,” says her hookup. But Rani’s gone, and she pilfered a room service steak knife on her way out.

The Gist: It was Rani’s surprise walk out on love interest Ben (Gamba Cole) that became last season’s cliffhanger, since otherwise, this group of delightful misfits seemed to make out golden. Their “brass bunkum” con of The Dean (Claes Bang), the London drug dealer who had them under his thumb, went off without a hitch – as did the slick, Steven Soderbergh-like montage of flashbacks that revealed the grift’s specifics – and they even made a hefty split of his loot. Bursting with confidence, Greg (Merchant) asked out his longtime crush, Gabby (Tomlinson) sought treatment for her addictions, Myrna (Perkins) made time for personal healing, John (Boyd) finally stood up to his bullying father, and Frank (Walken), the salty old con man, agreed to his daughter’s request to take his life of crime elsewhere. But now Rani has resurfaced with a request of her own: help her hide a dead body, because it could come back on all of them.

Wait, what dead body? Well, while The Dean is facing trial and likely certain jail time for getting caught by DS Lucy Haines (Grace Calder) with a pile of cocaine in the boot of his Maserati, he’s had his henchman Smiler (Rhys Yates) combing the area for Rani and Ben, because of their role in the con that brought The Dean down. But with Rani’s return to the group, their questions aren’t just about the body she brought. She already turned her back on Ben. What kind of person does that? Can they fully trust her? They’ll hash out the answers while grudgingly agreeing to help, with DS Haines, who PCSO Diane Pemberley sees as the Cagney to her own Lacey, still snooping around.

Technically, The Outlaws is not set in a workplace. But with Diane ordering them around, the Bristol farm and nonprofit where they perform their service can definitely feel like a job. (It’s like Community that way.) Workplace comedies are all about interpersonal relationships, anyway, and that’s where this series continues to shine, with its third season leaning in a little on how its characters are faring when they’re away from each other. Still, they’ll always be brought back together – even Walken’s Frank, who we have yet to see – whether to support each other as friends, or do a little midnight grave digging.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? The unlikely partnerships and off-kilter interactions of The Outlaws, not to mention the show’s occasional bursts of violence, align it with the acerbically funny Slow Horses, which premiered its third season late last year, as well as Guy Ritchie’s rousing series version of The Gentlemen. And though Stephen Merchant has said there are no concrete plans to continue The Outlaws, never say never, right? In the meantime, Merchant is also an executive producer of Peaco*ck’s planned spinoff of The Office.

Our Take: There’s an underlying tenderness to all of the escalating criminal dramas in The Outlaws, and that is a testament to how deeply the characters at its core have been realized. It’s the nature of a series ensemble to share the load. But they really care for one another, whether it’s Greg and Gabby supporting each other’s respective rebounds, Myrna and John’s mutual concern for their emotional lives, or even Diane’s hapless but endearing pursuit of a real friendship with DS Haines. And it’s this tenderness, this lived-in sense we have of these characters’ everyday with one another, that makes the jokes land with that much more satisfaction. While Greg often cringes when he becomes an unwitting side character in Gabby’s brash and funny confessional TikToks, it’s cringe from a place of love and care, and that built-in sweetness lends a madcap quality to all of the capering and criming in The Outlaws.

Sex and Skin: The love life status report for this group is mixed. Myrna has reconnected with an old flame, and Gabby’s new lady loudly keeps her busy in the boudoir, much to flatmate Greg’s chagrin. But Rani’s return has Ben conflicted, and John’s marriage might be faltering.

Parting Shot: She walked out on their relationship. Humiliated him on a train. But Rani is also very charming, and before long she’s convinced Ben to let her lie low at his place. How could he say no? They were pushing a dead guy’s Mercedes into a lake.

Sleeper Star: The ensemble work in The Outlaws is brilliant throughout, but Rani Rekowski has always been an intriguing wild card. And with season 3, Rhianne Barreto has found a new aspect of Rani to explore. Who is she to the other Outlaws, the friends and lovers she left behind? Even more significant, who is Rani to herself?

Most Pilot-y Line: “I can’t believe we’re burying a body for a murderer!” In the world of The Outlaws, it’s always the criminal types adjacent to this little group of folks who are the real outlaws. Except for all of the times that it isn’t.

Our Call: STREAM IT. In season 3, The Outlaws remains as charming a crime-forward comedy as it ever was, with a new set of raised and dangerous stakes for its delightful core ensemble to tackle. Plus, at five steadily-paced episodes, a one-sitting binge watch is a total breeze.

Johnny Loftus (@glennganges) is an independent writer and editor living at large in Chicagoland. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift.