THE CONTINENTAL-FROM THE WORLD OF JOHN WICK

Here is the decision, plainly. This three-episode Peacock miniseries carries the John Wick name and some of the franchise's flair — epic battles, stunning locations. But it takes a compelling two-hour idea and bloats it into roughly five hours, chasing subplots that seem to exist mainly to pile on immoral content. What's left is a program that celebrates self-centered hedonism, vengefulness and violence, with little redemptive value.

The costs are steep and unavoidable. Severe and frequent foul language. Extreme, lengthy sequences of gun, knife and martial-arts violence with severe blood and gore. Three unmarried couples in sexual relationships, two of them adulterous, with nudity. Drug use. And a worldview that makes revenge the answer to every problem while casting its sadistic villain as a practicing Catholic — a jab at Christianity built into the story.

So our answer is simple: skip it. There is no version of this miniseries we can point your family, or you, toward with a clear conscience.

The 1970s. Winston Scott — the mentor from the John Wick films, played here as a young, devilishly handsome con artist by Colin Woodell — is swindling businessmen across Europe and living the high life, wanting nothing to do with the criminal syndicate known as The Table.

Then he's summoned to New York's Continental Hotel by its manager, Cormac O'Connor (Mel Gibson), and coerced into tracking down his estranged older brother, Frankie, who has stolen an invaluable antique coin press. Finding Frankie may be the only way to keep The Table from killing him. What follows is a war for control of the Continental — and that's where we'll stop.

Two stars, and here's what they mean. The concept is genuinely intriguing, even riveting on paper — a three-paragraph summary that promises the franchise's signature spectacle. And the miniseries does deliver the epic battles and gorgeous locations fans expect.

What it lacks is everything that makes John Wick work. The streaming model lets a fun, tight two-hour story balloon into a five-hour doldrum, and the extra runtime goes to unnecessary subplots rather than to Winston, Frankie, Cormac or Charon becoming characters whose fates feel personal. Mel Gibson turns in a supremely phoned-in performance. Apart from one sequence where Winston and Frankie repair their brotherly bond on the run, the stirring character moments simply aren't here. The result is loose where the films are taut — spectacle without a spine.

This is a story that believes violence is the answer. Again and again, bloodshed is the primary means by which the characters solve their problems, and the whole miniseries is built on a foundation of revenge — Winston's vow to avenge his murdered brother drives everything. The people onscreen live by self-centered hedonism, vengefulness and violence, and the story asks us to ride along without ever questioning it.

More pointed still is the way the program treats Christianity. Its sadistic villain is portrayed as a practicing Catholic — a choice that ties faith to cruelty and, in this review's judgment, anathematizes Christianity rather than merely depicting a flawed believer. That is a deliberate slant a discerning viewer should weigh.

There is a single flicker of light: the relationship between the two brothers carries some genuinely positive messages about family, and their reconciliation on the run is the one moment the series earns. But it can't redeem the whole. Revenge promises to settle the account and never does; it only spreads the wound. Scripture takes the burden off our shoulders and puts it where it belongs: "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord" (Romans 12:19).

The John Wick films earned their reputation with tight stories and real character moments. This spin-off keeps the spectacle and loses the soul, wrapping severe violence, profanity, sexual sin and an anti-Christian streak around a story that worships revenge. So our answer stands: skip it. Looking for something worth your evening instead? Try our latest family-friendly picks.