Russie sauvage : La mer d'Okhotsk

What a great show! I like all the actors. This is the first time I've seen Stephen Tompkinson, but I bet he does comedy, his muggings make me laugh. But it was really great to see Hayley Mills again. She was a big star when I was growing up and her experience really shows. While the entire cast is good, Hayley Mills' acting pedigree allowed her to confidently stride into a role that is the complete antithesis of her sweet image during her heyday, making her believable as Amanda Holden's bitter mother who likes to push people's buttons. The show has gotten some rather virulent reviews on this site, but I came in the middle of the season, so the show must have improved by then, because I can highly recommend it. Give it another chance! I'm not a fan of wildlife themes, so I didn't pay it any attention when the series started here, but for me the sign of a good show is that it can capture you at any episode that you start watching it, and this is what happened to me. The series has finished here, but I'm sure they'll show it again. I await its return eagerly.

We have Acorn-TV - so, we can stream every season. It is kind of a unique show wherein a blended family also tried to adapt to like in Africa. The photography and scenery are splendid. Some of the family conflicts are needlessly mean-spirited, in pursuit of meaningful plot lines. And the early episodes 'regress' - by which we mean, the characters get over a hurdle, and then climb back over it to repeat the process.

In this case, the 'step' family almost breaks up when 'Daddy' of the 2 kids flies in with his new juvenile-looking chickie to stake a claim to his offspring. Such a situation is awkward enough to resolve in real life, but we do get there in this episode.

However, in the next episode, the kids cross over certain lines and resolve to depart (again) after outbursts of anger, dredging up hurt feelings and sadness we just got over. Let me tell you how this works in real life: There is NO 'my family, my kids' - there is only OUR FAMILY. No one is leaving. There is husband and wife - the kids in the brood are a STAGE of the marriage - they are NOT the reason for the marriage. Sorry. Sound cold-hearted? Darn right. It works no other way. Once everyone in a blended family understands that they are stuck on this desert isle together with no escape, they will quit whining and get on with the job of survival. Step family survival 101.

The writers seem to be sadly lacking in how 'regression' can spoil a series. Soon, in a following episode, we have ANOTHER problem when a nearby plantation owner makes subtle advances on the wife in this little caper, but she fails to inform her husband, leaving HIS daughter to inform him. Oh, boy. She isn't believed - and now, we have 2 difficult problems instead of one. The husband is a great problem-solver (however), a nice easy-going guy - he'll patch things up. I'd like him for my dad. But this isn't what I was expecting him to deal with. Some of the above caught the eye of a few other reviewers.

I still like the series and will persevere. Like when dealing with a real step-family, I can look for the good things. 8/10

I wish they had more of these types of shows in the United States. Big on family values and respecting nature. I also liked how they portrayed the local people. Sometimes, the story gets a little contrived and there are stupid moments, but it's good overall. I didn't like the characters coming and going throughout the series, though.

The last season, however, was not very good. It almost seems thrown together like the series was planned to end in season 6, but a season 7 with a happy ending was put in place to please fans.

I wish this series was fully available to buy or rent in the United States.

I love it. Sometimes the writing makes the acting is a little forced, but the characters are touchable and grow and change. What else is there? I'm a US native, who has lived abroad and tried other ways to live in this modern world. This show follows the great BBC tradition of showing modern characters CHOOSING an alternative life, for good or ill. If you can get past the not-great writing, and focus on what it might be like to change your life, radically, this is a fascinating show. And then they bring in Hayley Mills, and what is not to like? It's all about relationships, and what it takes to really deal with the people you love.

I like this gentle show. First of all, I love animals. Second, I like fish-out-of-water stories. Third, the acting is excellent. I am a fan of Stephen Thompkinson, ever since first seeing him in Ballykissangel.

For some, the sentimental nature of the stories is worthy of a roll of the eyes or feigned disgust. Me? I love sentimental stories. They tend to get to the emotional nitty gritty that most of us do not want explored, either in others or ourselves. If we did, we would have no need of therapists, right? And so we denigrate those who explore this psychological ground, using symbols and story lines to tell us something about ourselves. That makes sentimental pieces invaluable, I think. So, I enjoy the emotional region the program explores, and especially the difficulty in having the two families assimilate into one. You see, their difficulties parallel of the overall difficulty in assimilating into the African lifestyle. That makes the story lines a touch more sophisticated than the eye rollers give it credit for.

The episode where everybody comes down with an illness (won't spoil it for you) is genuinely well done and kept me riveted.

I am dreading the US version, though I like the idea that Rutger Hauer will play the Afrikkaner, Du Plessis.

Go ahead and watch. It won't bite. But it will entertain.