http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5v6E4iAEUE

Season 1 on Amazon

Click here for the spoiler filled summary

If you have seen the episode or watched the trailer or read the summary in the link, you will know about ZOMO, the fictional stand-in for Banksy.  I admit, I found myself impressed with the writers and set designers’ faithful tribute to the original artist.  For example, one of ZOMO’s works combines Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres’s Odalisque with the kind of humor Banksy uses in real life.

 By the way, when I looked up the painting, I found this link that reminded me that ZOMO’s not the first to use the Odalisque as a tool of satire.

Furthermore, when interacting with not-Banksy, I felt that the writers were, with subtext, finger wagging at people who worked as anonymous street artists.  I write this because I noticed the frustration the main FBI investigators expressed whenever ZOMO’s desire for anonymity complicates their goal to just solve the case presented to them.  Also, the twist that reveals the person behind ZOMO made me think that the writers for the show probably read this article on the real Banksy. 

Lastly, at the crime scene, Kristy, the assistant to ZOMO, explains to the main characters that despite the artwork being stolen, people still want to see the now vacant space in the gallery.  It reminded me of this article (or book, I don’t remember) I read that claimed that after the Mona Lisa’s theft, she instantly turned into an icon.