Paratiisi

I am a mono-lingual English speaker who enjoys watching mysteries filmed in other languages by using the English subtitles. But in this confusing mishmash, every time the language changes, the CC text that pops up to inform the viewer that the characters were now "speaking in a foreign language" obscured the very subtitles I needed to see in order to understand! Since these changes were fairly often--1) because the show included scenes in Finland as well as in Spain, and 2) because many scenes involved the Finnish community in Spain--this distraction occurred often enough to obliterate my possible comprehension!

After having watched the Finnish/Spanish production "The Paradise" season 1 several years ago (also known as Paratiisi and Kosta), it was a pleasant surprise to see that a second season was available on Acorn. Season 2 is also set in Costa del Sol, which has a robust Finnish retirement community. As such, the series has influences from northern Europe, southern Europe, as well as nearby Africa. This creates an interesting cultural stew, between its varied criminals and the detectives who track them down.

While the focus of season 1 was middle-aged Finnish detective Hilkka Mantymaki, in the second season, she shares the spotlight with a younger detective, Luisa Salinas, who has fled the grind of Madrid for the greener pastures of Costa del Sol. The plot line, which involves the exploitation of African immigrants, was interesting.

I liked season 2, found the characters compelling, and raced through the eight episodes rather quickly. For me, the biggest drawback to the series occurred when the international characters were forced to speak English with one another. When that happened, the Finnish and Spanish accents could become quite dense and mumbling, and sometimes indecipherable. Worse, during English dialogue, all the close captioning would drop out, which was regrettable since at times I found myself straining to understand what was being said! But this was a minor problem; The Paradise, season two, is well worth the watch. While I gave it a 7, it is more like a 7.5.

I was so pleased to see this series back for a second season, which I have just finished watching. All the old characters were back and a completely new storyline.

Fortunately, I was watching a version subtitled into English for all three languages used. On the face of things, it seemed an odd combination to have Finland and Spain in the same series yet it worked. But the Costa del Sol is teeming with Finns - three Finnish friends of mine have holiday homes there. We got a glimpse into this community during the two seasons.

Both storylines hooked me in. This was a series to be consumed at a pace to find out what would happen next. And the tension was unbearable sometimes. We knew that one of the main characters was going to be shot at some point but the lead up to it was pretty unbearable. It's a huge cliffhanger, of course. So we are looking forward to season three. I can't wait.

I am English-speaking and I enjoy this program very much. However, many people are complaining about the Close Captioning, and that when Spanish/Finnish is spoken with CC on you cannot read the CC because a blurb comes on saying a foreign language is being spoken. Here's a suggestion: To manage the Close Captioning, use the CC button most remotes have. When English is spoken, tap CC to turn it on and the English CC will appear; when Finnish and/or Spanish is being spoken, quickly tap it to turn it off. Conversely, you can keep the CC off all the time if you can understand the English without Close Captioning. I have found, however, that CC even in English is handy to help decipher what is being said!

The show would've been a lot more enjoyable if the English subtitles weren't so incredibly bad. Terrible grammar, really awkward phrasing and badly chosen vocabulary made them excruciating to read.