Unwanted

On first glance I believed this to actually be a documentary series so I avoided it but when searching for a new series to watch I read the overview... I'm glad I did.

The (at present) review of 5 stars does not do this series justice in my opinion. The multiple different stories, which are probably in fact stories of people from different circumstances is what makes this. A good look at what world some people come from.

My only set backs is it's kind of stretched out it and think it could of been done in 5 or 6 episodes instead of the 8 and that its multilingual (but thats preference). All tho producing this type of seires in one language would have ruined it...

I can appreciate the nuances and the focus on the refugee's backstories, because it is about an actually ongoing crisis. But does the show really bring any ideas or arguments to the table to improve the real-life situation? I don't think so. In fact, after one of the characters goes through an arc of blindly hating refugees to not being as prejudiced, they turn him into a loose cannon almost immediately after.

This series works in humanizing refugees, portraying them as actual people with personalities, rather than a homogenous group of poor victims as some progressive liberals would see them, but as for the anti-refugee claim that refugees are ungrateful or aggressive, this series definitely doesn't do them any favors.

What I find pretty annoying is the confessions to the camera. These cutaway moments spoil who is going to survive, and try to be intentionally vague about what will happen, making them repetitive after a while.

If anything, I was interested in the conflict between the captain Arrigo and vice-captain Edith Snyder. But this conflict is poorly executed, as in the first episode Edith point blank tells instead of shows what is bothering her about him and the situation, and then the subplot becomes underlit and fizzles out. Which is realistic, but I found it too interesting.

Ultimately what saves this series is the visuals of the cruise ship. If it didn't have such a nice-looking setting I probably wouldn't give it a pass.

Timely story with some very human perspectives on all sides. Good acting from lesser known actors and good script. Well shot and doesn't delve too deeply into the maudlin desperation of it all. Realistic to some degree, but not too weighty and prefers character over style. Well, mostly, not always. There is a bit of balance and juxtaposition from certain characters. You gotta expect that. But ...

I'm a little confused. Looking through the producer credits, I don't see the names of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Surely no two people had more to contribute to this story than they. Without them, this story could not have been told. They worked so hard on it, they deserve credit where credit is due. Such is life, eh?

I believe the story is quite well conceived and written, with appropriate characters to take the story in different directions.

My disappointment is in the various soapy side stories which were too drawn out and should have been cut back.

The production values including direction are reasonable, but could have been a lot tighter. It probably over reached trying to have a large international cast.

In conclusion, I don't believe this is meant to be a for or against refugee story, but is simply saying that there are millions of reasons why people make perilous journeys and this may be a scenario that plays out for some.

Please just watch the show for what it is, not what you think it is.

On episode six and whilst some of the performances are little stilted due to English not being their first language it is a good story and I don't know the outcome yet. Those demonizing immigrants would do well to watch this.

The wealth of the passengers is justapozed with the desperate refugees who do not want to go back to their terrible lives where they have suffered all sorts of suffering (which is shown in flashback). The set up meant that I was keen to watch the next episode due to some of them being left on cliff hangers. Made by the same people who made Gomorrah the quality shows through.