The Boy That Never Was

I've watched three episodes so far and, even concentrating hard, I find it difficult to follow as I watch with some things only dawning on me later.

You will rarely watch a series where almost every lead character is behaving or has behaved like a complete idiot.

Simon Callow, as Cosimo, is by far the standout actor and plays a most interesting character.

There is one standout thing that cannot be a spoiler because it is so obvious. The "boy" is a girl. Looks like a girl, runs like a girl and walks like a girl and, as far as I can recall, hasn't spoken any lines yet.

I will likely see it out on the basis of "I've started so I'll finish".

After the first ep I thought this show was top shelf stuff the two leads are brilliant and in here lies the problem for me. I think there's just to much realistic trauma and grief portrayed here for me. Left me thinking about Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf. If there was just a tad more silliness in the way of this first episode I might of been able to get on board but I got no sense of weird conspiracy from this opening. It struck me as the real deal, a spelunking excursion into the human condition and specifically the pain of losing a child. I'm getting to old to dwell here. I need something lighter with the illuminati or a UFO or two involved to keep my shrinking brain entertained these days. Don't get me wrong I highly recommend this for hard core drama fans. If you love being put through an emotional ringer as I once did I am certain this will do the job nicely.

... this being a relatively short four-part mini-series, don't make the mistake of just watching one or two episodes believing you've seen all you need seeing... for it starts off totally in one direction, twists and turns in several (for some might be too many) and ends in another completely different... although possibly-probably not firmly enough for majority of viewers

... casting, acting, production all good to very good... the winding path of the plot-storyline's where many can and will get bogged down baffled... then there's matter of all those flashbacks, mixed throughout so that you have little idea where you are at any point in the timing of it all... basic to establishing reference can-be is one thing, here overuse nearly does in the entire production... and the ending should have been used for closure considering what had come before, instead it just cements doubt, and is surely fully unsatisfying for many... this film taking-getting-caught-cheating to an-entirely-different-level of-utter-improbability.

I watched the first two episodes and found them drawn out and draining. However, based on previous Irish Dramas, which have been more than excellent, I decided to give this a try. After all, how long is a joke?????

The first two episodes as previously mentioned, did something. They told a story that could be believed or disbelieved. That wa the premis of the series, was the child alive, or even existed...

I started to watch episode 3, gave it 5 minutes, and refused to watch the rest of the series.

I was so disappointed that, I deleted the rest of the episodes.

Ireland have produced a great number of TV Series in the past number of years, some having received accolades, and even International distribution. This is not one of them.

Four episodes, stretched out.

There were a number of major plot developments, but it took an age to get to each one.

The overall premise is ludicrous. Not at all credible.

Many F bombs. Do the producers think this is going to make the drama more realistic?

Ollie's story felt like a bolt on to extend the drama.

This is a contemporary drama and contains language and/or attitudes that some viewers, particularly those of a more mature generation, the Silent Majority, will find offensive.

Why has it become apparently acceptable to have so much profanity in supposedly entertainment productions? It is literally supposed to be an entertainment, not a medium to create a profane culture. Current generations are being brought up to think this is normal. Is it normal? It never used to be. The worst language I have ever encountered was in the school playground in the 1960s, but it was not prevalent in general society, certainly not in TV and films. So, when and where was the decision made, and by whom, to decide it as being acceptable to allow this sort of language into the lounges of the population where it is not welcome?

Unfortunately turning off is becoming less of an option as it is literally in every drama and most contemporary so called comedies.