Hidden

Yes, I agree that the writing is great and the setting for Hidden makes for an entertaining and interesting show. The use of lighting combined with the beautiful exterior and sometimes brooding interior scenes are so artful and play an important part of the story. My wife and I really like the show. (I still can't get over the beautiful, artful direction and cinematography ...repeating myself; I know)!

Series Two has some excellent cinematography, placing grim housing estates against a timeless Welsh landscape. The use of Gaelic, too, gives the viewer a feeling that they're observing a foreign world (and I'm from the UK!). Series One, however, is burdened with a clichéd script, and is stretched out far too long. Rather than the seductive bleakness of Scandi-Noir, there's an atmosphere of unappealing drearyness. Series Two proceeds the same way (I was prepared to give up!), then makes a remarkable turnaround near the end. The conclusion presents a chillingly accurate depiction of a sociopathic youth. There's also a genuine sense of pathos and tragedy - in the way that deprived neighbourhoods can breed this criminal type, and in the devastating effects of their behaviour on the immediate community.

Good acting, strong story, believable characters. Gruesome and dark in parts but this only added to the tension and was neither gratuitous nor dwelt on for too long. Beautifully filmed in Wales and though I don't speak Welsh (hooray for subtitles) I felt the switches in language gave greater authenticity to the story. Well worth a watch.

This is one of those shows where you could easily stop watching early on due to the slow pace of the early episodes, my advice is don't, watch it to the end, it is worth it. If you give up before episode 4 you will have missed out, it might take that long to really hook you in. It grabbed me from the very first episode and would not let go, but I was lucky enough to be able to binge watch all 8 episodes in one sitting, mind you it was late into the night when I finished watching it.

If I was to compare this to any other show it would be The Fallen with Gillian Anderson, the only exception being that this is not about a serial killer as another reviewer has stated, it is far more involved and complex than that.

If you like really well made, brilliantly acted (the acting really is sublime) detective shows that have depth, watch this and ignore the bad reviews by shallow people who could not have really watched this all the way through.

You have to read subtitles, unless you can understand Welsh, but they are hardly noticeable when you get right into the show.

1. It was lovely to hear the Welsh language spoken. 2. Wales is beautiful. 3. The show was an interesting unfolding of the story. 4. Some of the episodes were so dark that they were hard to watch.

If you like these things ^, this is the show for you. If you don't like a dark, slow story, then skip it.