Red Rock

I was really excited about this show during the first season, but by the second season it becomes clear that every character is a total mess. Poor decisions, dishonesty, corruption, crime, stupidity...Every single one of them. It's hard to like anyone or care what happens to them. Too bad, because the acting is really top notch.

I *hate* soap operas. I hate daytime drama. I wouldn't be caught dead watching an American soap opera and had I known Red Rock was a daytime drama, I would never, ever have even downloaded the first episode.

Let me say, I'm truly grateful I didn't know, because this is a great show. It's a lot more NCIS than it is Days of Our Lives.

I've given up watching anything American other than sci-fi shows, and have been scraping the depths of my Amazon Prime account for great international shows. Red Rock is definitely, wonderfully binge-able watching. The characters are flawed and real. The relationships are complex, and nobody is television "perfect." No blonde bombshells with vapid, overworked makeup, here. The cast seems to have been chosen because they have their own faces, and because they can...gasp...actually act. Villains you love to hate, lovers you love to love..Shakespearean tragedies...Red Rock has them all.

Episodes are like chips, you can't eat just one. Only 25 minutes long, I'll watch one episode and find myself, hours later, on episode 25. It's not deep or intellectual, but Red Rock will keep you entertained for hours and hours. I highly recommend it.

I couldn't get enough of this show the first two seasons. There were likeable as well as unlikable characters. In season 3 the only characters who dominate the storyline are the unlikeables. Spending time with Keith or Bridget Kiely is not fun or enjoyable. Gone are the two Hennessy sons as well as Claire and instead we're stuck with their mother Patricia. I could give more examples but for me I like to spend my time with people I like. Season 3 doesn't provide that for me. It's kind of a miserable experience watching it. Lowering my rating from a nine to a seven because I did like the first two seasons a lot.

I learnt of this TV series via an article in The Mail's TV planner. It promised to be punchy, and punchy is exactly what you get. For quite some time now daytime telly drama has proved to be weak, watered down and frankly boring. What a huge and pleasant surprise this Police Drama turned out to be. I was hooked from the very 1st episode. The 2 series aired on the BBC 1 channel have touched base with such subjects as murder, drugs, gangland warfare, paedophilia, inter family disputes, bribery, you name it, Red Rock has it. The show is a credit to Irish TV, I have never heard of the cast names before, but I'm well and truly hooked. The sad thing now, is that UK viewers have to wait until 2017 for series 3.....Roll on 2017 I say....

Why do I watch Red Rock? Why do I look forward to the next episode? Well, this show is crisply paced and it's fairly well acted. Ultimately, I have to like (at least one of) the characters, and I have to root for someone. Here, Red Rock is solid. From Garda Cleere to Det. Tyrell to Supt. McKay, Red Rock features regular folks -- they all have issues, just like I do -- whom I'd want as neighbors here in New England, folks I'd be honored to sit down and share a pint with in Ireland.

Of course, there's evil in Red Rock, and the police, plus some of the other townspeople, do battle in back alleys and hallways, on street corners and mobile phones, sometimes with criminals and sometimes with each other.

It's the details -- looks of anguish or triumph, phrases packed with anger or angst, with big, broad troubles like murder and pedophilia sharing the canvas -- that make this drama pop. For a soap opera, it surely seems real to me, so I care.

Well done. There's room for growth to be sure, but I want to see more. (nearly 8 out of 10)