It's easy to get confused about what, exactly, is Traffic: The Miniseries, considering that there's a feature film of the same name, and a British miniseries called Traffik that's regarded as having inspired both the film and the U.S. miniseries. But the only thing that Traffic: The Miniseries has in common with these productions is its use of drug trafficking as the central plot point, and its use of an ensemble cast and multiple, interwoven story threads. Other than that loose connection, Traffic: The Miniseries stands on its own... and it stands very solidly indeed.

Four main stories are at the core of Traffic: Mike McKay (Elias Koteas) a DEA agent working to track down heroin delivery routes in Afghanistan; his wife Carole (Mary McCormack) and teenaged son Tyler (Justin Chatwin) who have just moved to Seattle; an ambitious businessman (Balthazar Getty) who discovers the shady but profitable world of smuggling; and a Russian taxi driver (Cliff Curtis) who is waiting for the arrival of his wife and daughter through the network of smuggled "illegals." In one way or another, all four stories connect to the mysterious sinking of a ship off the coast of Seattle, to the drug trade, and potentially also to a global terrorist network.

Traffic runs a total of four hours and 23 minutes, but its pace is so gripping that you could almost watch it in one sitting; certainly after you watch the first half you'll be dying to see the second half. The stories are deftly laid out and intriguingly developed: in each case, we see the characters getting more and more entangled in the larger web of the story. Each story thread has its own impetus, so even before we sense any connections between them, we're completely hooked to find out what's going to happen in each case.

Stylistically, Traffic is a gem. The different stories are very rapidly intercut with each other, completely abandoning the cinematic standard of sticking with a story for a certain amount of time before moving to the next one. Sometimes we stay with a particular story thread for a substantial amount of time, sometimes for only a moment. And many times a longer focus on one story thread is repeatedly intercut with very short (as in, just a few seconds) scenes from another thread. It's extremely effective, both in keeping up a high sense of tension and anticipation, and in making connections between the different stories. At times, the alternating scenes develop different aspects of the plot, and at other times, they develop contrasts in setting or theme, like the sharp differences between the glossy world of high-end finance and the gritty unpleasantness of a cargo container packed full of illegal immigrants.

One of the interesting things about Traffic is its intelligent handling of the material; it tells a story without trying to shove any moral message down our throats... other than, perhaps, "actions have consequences." The Afghanistan world of drug-trafficking is a dirty and dangerous one, but as one Afghani points out to Mike, it seems to have a great deal of appeal for the "John Wayne" mentality of the U.S. We also see that, far from being a clean-cut world of black and white, right and wrong, it's a world with many shades of gray, where the DEA (and the U.S. government in general) might support local warlords and turn a blind eye to their involvement in drugs if it's politically advantageous.

Traffic also doesn't fall for easy stereotypes. The conventional plot device involving Mike's son Tyler would have been for him to get hooked on drugs, driving home the message of "Just Say No," etc. But that's not quite what happens: he does get a window into the world of drugs, and we do see some nasty consequences, but that scene isn't as neatly compartmentalized into right and wrong as your typical after-school special. Likewise, Traffic doesn't shy away from suggesting that the whole thing is a losing battle. Everyone agrees that Prohibition was unsuccessful: banning alcohol didn't make it disappear, it only made it the most lucrative business venture of the Mafia. Why is it so hard to see any historical parallels between a Prohibition on alcohol and a war on drugs? What is Mike really fighting for? Is it his ideals, or is it something else?

In the second half of the series, particularly as the story winds up towards its conclusion, a few bumps show up on its route toward being a really outstanding miniseries. There's a plot twist in Afghanistan that seems a little forced; I won't reveal any spoilers, but there's a point at which viewers may look back on a series of events and see them as not really falling into place the way they should. Similarly, the thread involving the taxi driver suffers a little bit from "forced motivation": it's clear that he needs to follow certain lines of investigation to keep the plot moving, but it's not completely convincing in terms of his character's motivations.

The other weak spot in Traffic is the ending. The story threads all come to a peak, with anticipation and excitement stretched to their highest... and that's basically it; the series ends. Looking back, it's evident that we get a little bit of closure on at least some of the threads, probably the minimum that we could get and still call it an actual ending, but to say that there are a lot of loose ends flying around would be an understatement. There are plot points that have been left unexplained, and there are characters whom we want to know about, but we're left out in the cold. Many times I've commented that I'd rather be left wanting more, than feeling that a program went on too long, but here I really do wish we'd gotten a bit more.

The DVD is described as being the director's cut, with a different "twist" ending and some additional footage. Since I didn't see the series when it originally played on television, I can't be specific about what's added (and there's no option to see the original version on the DVD). From what I've been able to determine, it does seem that the ending of the director's cut is actually a little more fleshed-out than the ending of the original version, with the program wrapping up with a scene involving Mike and his family. I still wish that the ending had been more developed, but this extra scene is quite effective and I think that viewers will appreciate it.

The DVD

Viewers who watched this miniseries on TV (or heard about it) may find its presentation on DVD to be very confusing. For one thing, the opening credits mention directors for parts 1, 2, and 3... but the DVD is broken into only two parts. However, Part 3 isn't missing: the full miniseries is on the DVD. (All told, the miniseries' four hours and 23 minutes on DVD does equate to the six-hour running time on television, if you account for the bloating effect of commercials.) As far as I can tell, what's happened is that it has been re-edited into two equal parts running two hours and 18 minutes apiece. It's also true that the ending is likely to leave you saying "That's it? Where's the rest of the movie? I want to know what happened!" Don't worry, you aren't missing part of the miniseries... it just leaves a lot hanging at the end.

Traffic: The Miniseries is a flipper, with one part of the miniseries on each side of the disc.

Video

Traffic: The Miniseries appears in an attractive 1.85:1 widescreen transfer, preserving its original aspect ratio. The image is slightly soft with some edge enhancement, but it's otherwise very presentable, with a generally clean and clear appearance and natural-looking colors.

Audio

The Dolby 5.1 soundtrack offers a satisfactory listening experience. There's some good use of the surround channels in the action scenes, and overall it's a nicely immersive track. The only real flaw is that the dialogue isn't as cleanly separated from the rest of the soundtrack as it could be; it's necessary to turn the volume up a bit to make sure that you don't lose any of the dialogue.

Extras

There are no special features on this disc, which is a real shame, since I would have loved to have learned more about the making of the series and found out more details about the director's cut vs. television cut.

Final thoughts

Traffic: The Miniseries is a fast-paced, gripping, intelligent journey into the tangled web of the smuggling of illegal goods... drugs, weapons, illegal immigrants, anything that can make a profit under the table. With four intriguing stories woven together, and very stylishly edited to create a constant sense of tension and excitement, this is a very polished and highly entertaining production. It's not perfect, but a bump or two along the way is not a big deal in an otherwise outstanding miniseries. Viewers will also be pleased to note that while it shares its title (and large-scale topic) with the feature film Traffic and British miniseries Traffik, this production is entirely original and stands completely on its own. Highly recommended.