Engaños

Another mystery set in an affluent suburb (British in this case), in which a wealthy, picture perfect family is torn apart by buried secrets.

There is something exhausting about watching the same plot reworked in all possible permutations. Coben mini-series are usually clever, but this one suffers from a massive logical flaw that renders the whole story absurd.

Cliche warning: It has many. How many people have best friends who know all about hacking and can run down license plates and do background checks? Tthere is the inevitable scene of someone correctly guessing a computer password. Writers should just stop putting passwords on computers instead of subjecting us to these scenes. And there are just a few too many coincidences and connections as the story unfolds.

As for casting, the plucky female lead is not quite convincing as the ex-military tough gal she is supposed to be. She is just too small and thin to believably take down some of the larger men she confronts. Her hair and makeup are always great, even when other characters tell her she looks awful and ask her what's wrong.

On the bright side, I didn't quite realize how little sense this story made until the end, so I enjoyed much of it. The sets are striking--a beautiful British estate and a post-modern home so large it looks almost like a condominium complex, both with bold decor choices. If nothing else, you may get some good ideas for your next couch.

A rating of seven seems fair. Maybe if it were a little shorter, I wouldn't be as annoyed that I spent so much time watching it.

I've watched a lot of adaptations of Harlen Coben's books, many on Netflix, and have read everything he's written. This is one of the better ones that has been set in Britain.

It has the usual issues in that it's really a story transplanted from America and there are the occasional jarring scenes or bits of dialogue that don't belong in a British thriller, but it does hurtle along and is clearly bingeable having got through it all today.

Michelle Keegan does a good job in the lead role as the tenacious investigating mother although I didn't quite buy into her as a helicopter pilot.

I particularly liked - as I always do - Adeel Akhtar - as the likeable detective, his relationship with his DS was very good and real highlight of the series. Joanna Lumley chewed up scenery with panache and was good at being the particularly unpleasant matriarch.

There's plenty of Coben's trademark misdirection and a plot that keeps you guessing right to the end.

I thought Danya Griver as Abby was excellent and hope we get to see more of her. I do have a big quibble with her accent though. Based and always lived up north in the series, with northern parents, but speaking with a clear southern accent really narked me and was really poor. Same with her brother.

All in all it was an enjoyable romp, clearly preposterous, but all of Harlen's books are and they are always great fun. Definitely would recommend this, especially if you're a fan of his books and other series.

Seems to be a trend making limited series that don't need 8-10 episodes! First episode gets you hooked but you see the signs of the long drawn-out development being framed.

Being fooled in the past from other shows, I now look for reviews that recommend the episodes to skip, that don't provide critical information. The reason for the 6 is the unnecessary episodes.

If you watch episode 1, and skip to last two 7,8... the rating goes up to a 8 for me. No critical information is missing and I like the ending, they tied up most of the plot lines.

Overall a great show, a little overly dramatized for a UK show which tends to be ground compared to US TV.

The story has some nice riddles and twists to it. The characters are pretty stereotypical though.

Everything seems to be comically over the top: the rich-people-houses, the unnecessary flashbacks (in case you forgot that you saw stuff in the previous episodes), the satirically silly film music (*boom* means: this is important).

The female protagonist is always styled to perfection, doesn't take her chique Trenchcoat off at home. Never mind the pouty lips. Her little girl is the worst child actor you have ever seen. The mother-daughter-relationship is nonexistent.

We laughed about these imperfections and enjoyed the story anyway.

I have to write because it seems that only people who dislike this series take the trouble to come to IMDb and register their opinion.

This mini TV series is very well executed. My compliments to the entire cast who did a great job. I found actors here being very talented and competent, even those with minor roles. I didn't know those British actors except Joanna.

The plot is full of twists and I really didn't expect the final, very surprising.

Maybe one minor thing here and there which is not properly explained. One think that bothers me a little bit is the characters constantly withholding information from each other, everyone with their own secrets - after a while it gets a bit too much.

But I give a 7 to this entertaining series which came as a good surprise specially in the work done by its cast and the little details inserted in the story line related to how characters interact with each other in daily life which was pretty sharp. I recommend.