Obychnaya zhenshchina

If you've enjoyed Better call Saul and Breaking Bad, I'd advise against watching this. Throughout the show unless you switch off your brain completely, you keep asking yourself "why are they doing this?" and the only answer is "so the show can go on with characters overcoming unrealistic self-imposed difficulties". Parts of the plot are so generic and americanesque that they do not fit in within Russian reality at all, but are otherwise easily recognizable. Hotel clerk woman is a copycat of Saul's girlfriend for example. Script is filled with such glaring holes, that even taking it for a dark unfunny comedy doesn't help. Actors seem smarter than the script and it appears you can sometimes see them cringe... Bortich is her usual blank-o-wood expression range, same for the protagonist's what'shername daughter. But it wouldn't be complete as a pile of ... excitement without feminist angle. Pretty much all men are incapable flaccid trash, while all women are almighty... Makes me not ever want to let a pregnant woman take my seat on a public transport - she is apparently stronger than me and doesn't need it... Hell, she could probably just walk any distance... It's filmed alright though.

It's a series about modern Russia, corruption, cynicism of people who have accustomed to the surrounding environment in order to survive. It's a tragedy about women of all walks of life but a tragedy not without humour. Great acting by pretty much everyone in the film makes it that much better to watch. I enjoyed it thoroughly, highly recommended!

I've never been into series a great deal, and now I know why: it just eats up too much ( life) time. Even if one is not that hugely impressed it does draw you in and you want to see how it's ending.

About this one in particular: I would describe it a typical kind of tv fodder. The most interesting aspect about it is that it seems to describe life in nowaday russia fairly accurately - someone is always counting huge wads of cash and there seems to be corruption just about everywhere. I am surprised that they got away with this - censorshipwise. It's not overly violent and there is - surprising for it beeing about a madam running a ring of prostitutes - not a blink of nudity. Maybe that' s why.

The acting I found generally pretty excellent and it makes a nice change to have women pulling the main strings. From this aspect it is almost something of a feminist sort of film.

Absolutely breathtaking story, brilliant Anna Mikhalkova as "an ordinary Russian woman" who turned out to be not so ordinary after all.

I'm thoroughly enjoying this series and with two episodes to go, I'll hate to see it end. It's about as black as a black comedy can be but it very, very funny... laugh out loud funny!

The acting is superb, not one weak actor / actress in the cast & the storyline keeps you guessing how each scene will resolve.

Highly recommended IMHO.