Shelter - Der schwarze Schmetterling

Interesting plot and characters. I always enjoy the mysteries that have a historical element to them. Cold cases, unsolved disappearances, wrongful convictions. I have to say though - the language in the thing is exaggeratedly foul. Gratuitous use of the f-bomb. Coben didn't write that way. He didn't need to throw in excess bad language in order to make his point or create the mood of the scene. To me - not an informed critic - just an avid reader and viewer - it takes a LOT away from the show. The screenwriters make it sound like they can't write a sentence without using the word f--. Pretty disappointing.

I'm trying to write this without spoilers.

The first two episodes are great, a captivating fast moving thriller with plenty of action and appealing characters.

Then episode three gives us a warning of what is to come as it starts to go off on a couple of weird tangents.

By episode 4 the writers had evidently lost inspiration and started writing random we have a load of boring filler.

It is hard to work out what went wrong. Were the writers left unsupervised? Were the first two episodes just to trick viewers into watching what they actually wanted to write?

Whatever happened, end result had us reaching for our phones.

Not sure why people aren't liking it. It's hard to please the masses these days. They expect far too much too soon, some need to have a break from watching anything if that's how they treat new shows. However the show started off well, the mystery is intriguing especially with episode 3. Hope the momentum carries on. I don't see the issues with the profanity, it goes back to not being able to please the masses and the whiney cancel culture that has been nurtured in the last 15 years. Peoples just need to enjoy tv for what it is and if they don't like it, don't watch it because there are plenty of people out there who do and will like it.

Harlan Coben is a fabulous writer with really interesting characters and great stories. I've read all his books about Myron Bolitor and his nephew Micky Bolitor, including the books upon which this series is based but I don't recall any ascerbic aunt! Where's Myron?? What the hell? I am Halfway through episode 1 and I just can't do it. Sigh. I have such high hopes when my favourite authors get their books made into movies or television series and, inevitably, such disappointment when I watch. I'll stick to the books. (I cannot watch Tom Cruise play Jack Reacher either.). It's probably a good show, based on other reviews, but it's not for me.

The series on whole for story telling is average and surprisingly enough for Harlan Coban very predictable.

That said though I think the hype around the writer is why other reviews are negative as people expect brilliance from this type of show.

It's a good show and with obvious flaws, it has two fantastic positives in Adrian Greensmith (Spoon) and Abi Corrigan (Ema). I found the pair of them so interesting, funny and lovable. They carried the show from start to finish by pulling on your every emotion during the journey.

Don't be put off by the negativity but instead go into without expectation and just enjoy the show.