Pryatki

By far superior to any American series out there. I have all but given up on watching most anything domestically produced due to the lack of character building, plot, and atmosphere. It's all good looks & money generation. Here we have a Russian/Ukraine series that reminds me a bit of The Killing, though stands apart proudly! The atmosphere is bleakly Russian, emitting the sad, poverty stricken starkness that seems to permeate post Soviet towns. Perfect gloomy atmosphere for a tense plot of kidnapped children, their tortured parents, & a struggling police department. There is subtlety in symbolism, the moral vs. amoral, and courage vs. cowardice. No spoilers here! It IS emotional and dark in it's subject matter. Life is real and definitely painful for these characters.

The two investigators fight personal issues, which normally get in the way of a good show by stealing time from the actual crimes, but not so! Their personal challenges integrate seamlessly, almost beautifully, within the case of the kidnapped kids and practically every character in the show is effected by the blowback of the investigators' pasts. In fact, these factors hint at a second season!! Please, please let their be another...there is so much more to answer and work with for a successful 2nd season!

All said and done, those with a soft spot for Russian lit., culture, film, or basically anything of quality on T.V., give it a whirl. Patience is a virtue.

Excellent Ukrainian crime that starts with a child's mysterious disappearance when playing hide and seek with her father. Good story and acting, well produced and filmed. Mood vise it's very Nordic noir (to the extent I jokingly ask my partner "do they not have lightbulbs in this country?" ) great visuals with a very bleak and sombre tone to the whole production.

I can understand how this might not appeal to all viewer as it is nothing like your average TV cop drama. And that's why it is so excellent. It is stark, moody, and deeply atmospheric which makes it a tough watch, but it pays off in spades, with stellar writing, directing, acting, twists and turns, keeping a steady pace throughout. Someone else mentioned it reminded them somewhat of The Killing, and I had the same feeling. It was an extraordinary series, and I would be ecstatic if they produced another season. Shows like this are gems!

No pow pow action.

Greyish bleakish russian style.

Looks decent lower budget.

No many dialogues.

Try to watch in original language wt subs .

=====================================

It's an earnest effort, but the results are just barely so-so. If you watch a lot of international crime shows, you've see it all before, and done better. (In particular, the improbability-meter here frequently goes into the red, sometimes way into the red.) The first two episodes are excruciatingly slow and the eventual wind-down is interminable. To be honest, I watched the whole thing only from a sense of support-all-things-Ukrainian. Had this series been from, say, Romania or Poland, I would have bailed after the first episode. As for atmosphere, it certainly makes Ukraine out to be a hopelessly corrupt, dreary, dangerous place, but then, that's what the noir genre does, whatever the location, and that's one reason it fascinates people.