Die Medici: Herrscher von Florenz

I love period dramas, and I particularly like the idea of a drama centered around the Medici family. Acting is great, story line is great. There's one problem though, the audio engineering is HORRIBLE. It's often difficult to hear the dialogue, even when it's not being drowned out by the overbearing score. It's just not mixed well.

Let me start off by saying, this series does take some getting use to. The initial few episodes are not very interesting, but they are worth watching. If anything the amazing chemistry and acting of Richard Madden and Annabel Scholey makes the slow pace of the first few episodes a lot more entertaining and definitely worth watching. And the final few episodes turned a decent series into a great one. The main characters are very well cast, maybe with the exception of Dustin Hoffman. And as the season progressed, I find myself connecting and caring with many of the characters, and their interesting backstories. Whether it's Cosimo's love story, or the long family feud, I genuinely do care about what happens to some of the characters. I have to say Annabel Scholey probably gave the best performance out of the whole cast and really made the show great.

Its not perfect and at times does seem a bit slow. But overall the series was great.

PS: It's very historically inaccurate, more of a drama then anything. So if that bothers you don't watch it.

I am honestly baffled by the negative reviews for this show. While it wasn't perfect, for me the good far outweighed the bad. First, the strengths:

1) The soundtrack! The opening sequence is strong, and sets the tone beautifully for what is to come, and the moody instrumental music throughout the show added to the scenes without being distracting. 2) The entire thing is visually stunning. Seriously. From the landscapes to the sets, costumes, food, colors... the whole thing is a feast for the eyes. 3) Medici: Masters of Florence is a study in the dynamics of both a family and a city. If you enjoy political intrigue, relationship drama, or the arts, this show is where it's at. 4) The acting in this show is beautiful. Annabel Scholey's many layered performance as Contessina was stunning. Richard Madden can say more with just his eyes than anyone currently on television. Stuart Martin and Guido Caprino as Lorenzo Di'Medici and Marco Bello own the screen with their charisma.

I only saw two issues that detracted from the program. 1) The casting of Dustin Hoffman as Giovanni was a real head-scratcher. His accent and demeanor did not mesh with everything else, and the performance had the air of being something his agent forced him to do. Normally I really do love DH, but this was not his best.

2) This quality is a little harder to put into words, but I felt like the show took a while to find its footing--like it wasn't quite sure which direction it wanted to take. In spite of that, I couldn't stop watching, and really enjoyed this show. Looking forward to season 2!

So while I love period pieces and feel the actors chosen to depict the main characters are stars in their own rights, I'm struggling to watch Medici. Struggling because I want to watch it and conversely because I can't hear a good portion of the dialogue. Can someone turn down the music and background noise please so I can hear the speeches? It goes super loud and then so quiet that the music drowns everything. majorly irritating because I actually care and want to devour this show....

I think this is a great series for entertainment and history....It did inspire me to do more research on the Medici family. I discovered the series isn't entirely historically accurate but then we are talking about events that happened or not over 500 yrs ago..The setting is lush and is everything required for the series to be believable...The actors are all incredible and convincing...even Dustin Hoffman!!The soundtrack is pretty good despite the more modern beats ..I think they should have included more period music. The soundtrack is a bit repetitive but that is my main criticism!The intrigues are complicated by historical flashbacks which takes getting used to but all in all i cant wait for the second season!