Mano de hierro

I must admit that after watching the first episode I was not positive at all. I found it poor and very planned, like trying to imitate the really good series on this topic. But oh boy! I'm glad I gave it one more chance, starting with the second episode it's something quite different, very exciting and with great action scenes and better dialogues, I also really like the combination of the different characters. Very powerful! Many scenes will take you to the edge of your sofa due to the tension and suspense.

I found the sex scenes totally unnecessary, although I have always seen it as something very typical of Spanish series and movies.

The great cast of actors is a very good choice and the photography in the seaport of Barcelona is an interesting and different premise.

The actor, Eduard Fernández, Joaquin Manchado in the series, is really good in his role, he becomes the capo, the Barcelona 'godfather' of a criminal network that he manages with an iron fist, and not just metaphorically. ...but..the decision to replace his hand with an iron hook, due to an accident, seems exaggerated if I may say so.

If you're a fan of these cruel bloody crime thrillers, a lot of good action and mystery plots, then don't miss this one. Is a really good production.

Iron Reign is a watchable Spanish crime drama set in the criminal underbelly of the Barcelona port. The short eight episode long season one combines intrigue, drama, treachery, police, drugs and even a love triangle.

Unfortunately, the potential of the story is lost amidst flashbacks, confusing story twists, too many main characters and subplots within subplots.

The basic storyline concerns one family, the Manchados, who manage everything illegal at Barcelona port. The plot focuses on a cocaine drug deal with foreign sellers which, due to double dealing within the family, goes off the rails and efforts to stave off a disaster as a result of the failed deal. Meanwhile, Spanish authorities have set their sights on bringing down the Manchados by infiltrating the family.

Can't say anymore without giving away too much.

Iron Reign is an easy series to watch. It may not win critical acclaim but it's far from a waste of time. The ending may not be to one's liking but Netflix is setting viewers up for season two.

Show has the proper mixture of everything that make a good crime show. Crime family with tensions between members. Crime enterprise hiding behind the facade of legitimate business. Large shipment of drugs going missing. Various crime families circling each other "we are friends, we work together but we'll punch on you if we see you as weak". Colombian drug cartels. Undercover cops. Events from decades ago still casting shadows and secrets. But somehow it all fails to come together and leaves us with a disjointed story that is all over the place, betrayals that make little sense, people acting stupidly..... Too bad.

This is AT LONG LAST a true Spanish series, the best ever for me, though I admit not have seen so many of them. But at least, it is ten billions times better than the CASA DEL PAPEL junk, garbage crap destined to all kinds of audiences, under and over fifties housewives, truck drivers, convicts, budding young executives, teens.... Crap. This series is gritty, bloody, taut, rough, tough, not for sissies. I LOVE IT !!!! And that's the first time I see Sergi Lopez handling a machine gun or simply acting in a crime flick. I particularely recommend the fifth episode where you watch the most terrific knife - fist- fight of all times for me, grittier than any other filmed stuff, even Asian movies from the seventies. This scene between Sergi lopez and another character is purelly outstanding. So realistic.... And this series, which the plot takes place in Barcelone harbor, among giant containers, this series looks very likke another one, from France, and called DE GRACE, but taking place in LE HAVRE harbor, another crime drama involving a family, with a patriarch and his sons.... But DE GRACE was less crime than drama, there was no undercover cop scheme, unlike this one, which is an authentic mafia crime series. In both TV shows you also have many flashbacks, concerning the family story. And the partriarch character here, with the iron hand, is the equivalent of Olivier Gourmet's role in DE GRACE. And I don't know if you have noticed, but both actors - Gourmet and this Spanish actor - HAVE THE SAME EYES !!! Not face, BUT EYES, same glance. Please try to check by yourself. Not face but eyes. What a coincidence....

Do not get me wrong: it is still mediocre.

Just, compared with the usual low quality, and the terrible acting and scripting of Spanish thrillers, is probably the best show of latest years.

The show benefits from a high budget. Sceneries, the port, the ships, resources. All this contributes to a solid staging and a professional appaerance.

The action scenes are well done, specially comparing with other Spanish productions. Still quite amateurish, but I think not because the way they filmed it and the actors and extras done it; it is a planning problem: writers and directors have no idea how weapons work, how people behave in close range combat, and so on.

Eduard Fernández is an extraordinary actor and nailed it. His performance is largely the best in the show, and he single handedly saves the entire show. He is gritty, dark, complex. And, overall, the actor is very natural: the way he speaks, the way he moves, he is very credible in the role of the port kingpin.

We cannot say the same of the other parts. And it is a common problem in non-comedy Spanish shows: from plain bad acting to overacting, people not talking the way people talk in Spain, expelling from their mouths poor or ridiculous dialogues.

Another problem is the lack of attention to detail. It is not fault of actors or production, but writers. It is like that scene which begins with a cargo ship navigating and a caption that says "Pacific Ocean". Suddenly, a speed boat with somali pirates or alike appears from nowhere. In the Pacific ocean. Quite a leap for somali pirates. The subsequent action in the attacked ship could have been really good, as they had the resources to do it. What they lack is attention to detail, knowledge of stuff necessary to giving it a little credibility and the classic overconfidence of writers in their own knowledge.

The lack of professionalism in the depiction of police work, how drug dealers and sicarios work, how weapons should be used, and even the incorrect geography, takes the shine off what could have been a great show.

The show is plagued with all these things; together with the bad acting (aside of the extraordinary work of Eduard Fernandez and a few small parts) and very poor dialogues, makes watching it a bit tiresome and difficult to suspend disbelief.