Totems

I really enjoyed this eight part series set around the Cold War in 1965. I thought the characters were well portrayed were very believable, each episode was very exciting.

Stumbled across this well written, well acted and well filmed thriller and ended up watching it back to back and feeling sad at the end since it had finished. The story is not a typical Cold War US/UK vs USSR drama by way of the French angle and there are multiple storylines that twist and turn very cleverly. The characterisation is superb so you end up attached to the players liking their good points and understanding their flaws and their emotions. I particularly liked the mixed European dialogue and despite not being a French speaker was in no way put off and could easily follow the story. The attention to detail in the scenes cannot be questioned. I am a car fan and every street scene in Paris, Prague, Moscow was filled with exactly the right vehicles. The fashions and house/office interiors were spot on. I also loved the airport and the mid 60s commercial flight scenes. There are some classic cliff hangers that in pre-streaming days would you have had your desperate for next week's episode as well as other familiar techniques to keep the tension and intrigue going but at no time was it cheesy. Well worth watching. Congratulations to all who put this together. I was very well entertained.

Great cold war show! The acting, locations, production, everything is wonderful. Usually I am very picky and not an easy pleaser but this was one of the best shows I've seen lately.

I can't believe more haven't rated it. Full of intrigue, great writing and acting and especially from the very beautiful Kolesnikova whew. If you like serious spy shows you don't want to miss this.

I am on episode 5 and this is perhaps one of the 3 best new shows this year. Episode 1 was a bit slow but from episode 2, it gets much better. I am a fan of spy novels and shows and this is really satisfying. The actors are great especially Lambert Wilson, Niels Schneider, Vera Kolesnikova and José Garcia.