Love/Hate

Definitely one of Irish Television's best ever series. Written by Stuart Carolan, who also wrote some episodes of Raw (another excellent drama), this series is the story of modern gangsterism on the streets of Dublin.

The acting is chillingly effective from two of the main gangster leads, Tom Vaughan-Lawlor and Aiden Gillen. Gillen, especially, is a menacing, ruthless, bloodthirsty, totally amoral drug boss. Robert Sheehan plays a younger gang member who returns to Dublin from Spain when he has been in enforced exile. Naturally, he teams up with Nidge, his old buddy (Vaughan-Taylor), mayhem ensues.

Killian Scott, Aoibhinn McGinnity, Charlie Murphy and Ruth Bradley also shine.

Now in it's third season, beginning next Sunday (RTE One, Sunday, November 13th, 2012), this is a series to be seen by the world, not just Ireland.

As a drama, I would put this on par with the best of the best of BBC productions.

Shows like this and Underbelly in Australia need to get world recognition,

I only discovered Underbelly travelling through Australia and its up there with Sopranos standard wise

This show Love/Hate is absolutely gripping from start to finish. Every actor shines and the plot is fantastic.

Its a take on the criminal underworld in Dublin and its quite terrifying.

Must watch and hopefully it gets seen by people oustside of just Ireland

Stumbled across this series...

The quality of the writing and acting is superb.

A cast of the creme de la creme of the Irish acting fraternity, including Aidan Gillen of Game Of Thrones ('Littlefinger') fame and the fragile sensitivity, punctuated with bursts of extreme violence, of Robert Sheehan, to name but two of the stars of this show. But the whole cast are delivering stellar performances.

In the same league as The Wire. Or The Bridge and The Killing (the Nordic versions)...

Also favourably reminiscent of Trainspotting and The Acid House. With a great soundtrack to match!

The accents aren't so broad that the non-Irish English speaking ear can't follow the dialogue without subtitles...

This series beats any of the Brit crime thrillers that I've seen in the last 10 years, and that is saying something!

It really pays to follow links down the rabbit hole. Sometimes you strike gold!

This series is definitely gold.

I am not sure why kids would want to be like these gangsters. They are quite a horrible lot. I absolutely hate Nidge. That actor must be pretty awesome because he makes my skin crawl. I thought I hated John Boy and his whack brother in season 1-2 but Nidge is the worst of all. I find all this criminal life stuff depressing vs. "exciting". Hopeless, violent, evil. The beatings, shooting, strippers, hookers and all the murder. It is sad and depressing. I see no glamor in this. It is hard to watch all the brutality this show revels in. I did binge watch 4 seasons and watched the final season as they came out. It is it compelling TV. This show would be a hit in the USA on the right channel. It is very country specific so I hope no one tries to do a remake. The actors were all pretty terrific. It keeps you fully engaged the entire series if you can handle the horror of so many things that happen.

Being Irish myself, I was at first hesitant about this show. I mean, how good could it really be right? Especially when the bar has been set by the likes of Fair City...or Glenroe. But, I said I'd take my chances...and, boy, am I glad I did!

Love/Hate is gritty, funny, dramatic, intense. It leaves you with cliffhangers, and has you constantly thinking about what's going to happen next. The cast do an amazing job - sometimes I can't believe it's Irish talent I'm seeing on my screen - and, best of all, the series' are short and sweet; with 4 episodes in season 1, and 6 episodes (each) in seasons 2 & 3. I urge everyone to watch this show! Even the gardaí (cops in Ireland) think its realistic...

Try it out. You won't be disappointed!

10/10