Black-out

Topcast but... Characters don't feel natural...seems the actors try to do their best to hard. Belgium has better series. Undercover, tabula rasa,...

Well, this Flemish TV-series sets at least one world record. It features the most unrealistic and absurd storyline AND simultaneously also the most realistic and truthful storyline in one and the same plot! How special is that? The idea of specially trained mercenaries breaking into a nuclear plant and steal a barrel of toxic waste in order to sell to Middle Eastern terrorists is downright implausible and ludicrous. However, the other part of the story, with incompetent Belgian politicians being unable to solve an energy crisis because they are too busy backstabbing each other and founding new alliances in secret, now that is extremely factual in this country!

The series begins promising enough, with the power failing in whole of Belgium - hence "blackout" - and the female prime minister receiving a video of her kidnapped daughter and a warning. It looks like the work of politically engaged environmentalists at first, but tough copper Dendoncker discover it's a much bigger threat to our national security.

"Black-Out" is a very adequately made series, and stars many elite (in Flanders, that is) actors and actresses, but in quality it cannot compare with the reasonably long list of surprisingly great series that were made in this country over the past few years, like "Beau Séjour", "The Day", "Tabula Rasa" or "Undercover". The script contains too many weaknesses and minor holes, and most of the episodes simply don't have enough action or suspense.

I really expected more after some of the excellent Flemish series I have seen. The initial premiss is good, that anti-nuclear campaigners sabotage a reactor and cause a continent-wide blackout. Just as an aside, I was amused that the map of Europe and its lights that go out in the opening credits includes the UK - whose lights don't go out. lol. Is this a subtle reference to Brexit? Or is it an acknowledgement that the UK can stand alone?

Well, back to the plot, what there was of it. To me, it was inconceivable that a politician would take the actions she did due to the blackmail that she was under. Or that she would refrain from telling the cops on so many occasions. As for the saboteurs, it went from the sublime to the ridiculous. One minute they were idealists, then we were plunged into a tale of Kurdish freedom fighters seeking to steal nuclear waste. While this was happening, absolutely unbelievably, the Turkish government conducted a murderous secret service operation on Belgian soil. Turkey is an aggressive, lawless, oppressive state, but even they are not stupid enough to do that.

Every episode was a "just missed them" moment. We didn't get much of a follow up on anything. Did the Belgians hand the Kurds over, for example? What was happening to the general population during the blackout? Streets were empty, it seemed, enabling long police chases and swift journeys.

And finally we had the lone nutter angle. I still wasn't clear whether he had arranged the whole thing or had just drifted, deliberately, into it. It really wasn't a plot enhancement; it simply made the series more difficult to believe.

The final episode really was the pits. Cops who had been shooting with pinpoint accuracy previously, at the most important moment, suddenly somehow lost their aim at virtual point blank range.

There was really too much intuition going on that was based on nothing really. How to solve the investigation was not based on solid clues but on wild guesses and coincidences. With such flimsy material, the actors did their best but had to work against huge holes in the plot and the one-dimensional characters they had been given to portray. And these were good actors too who shone in other series and films.

I'm very disappointed. I watched to the end but it was a bit of an effort to carry on. That's why it got five stars because I wanted to see how it all ended. If there's nothing else to watch, then this just about serves to while away time. But I wish I had chosen something else.

Flemish political thriller Black-Out is about a sabotage at a nuclear power plant, causing a blackout though Western Europe. We follow the prime-minister and the chief of anti-terrorism to see how they handle the situation.

Despite having a strong cast, the show never lifts itself to a level we've seen in other Flemish shows such as De Twaalf or Tabula Rasa.

The scenario is often unbelievable, the dialogues forced and a lot of characters miss depth and proper motivation. The actors can only do so much to make up for that. As a result, they all played better roles in other series. For instance, if you compare the colorful depth Ruth Becquart gave to character Sandy in Chaussée d'Amour, with the one-dimensional detective Natalie Maes she performs in Blackout, it's hard to believe we're talking about the same actress. Yet, her performance is among the better ones this show has to offer.

On top of that it's hard to make sense out of the actions of the perpetrators and the prime-minister. This makes you look at the show from a distance instead of being absorbed by it.

There are some missed opportunities, we never really see how the population is dealing with the crisis. There's certainly no apocalypse happening, it's all business as usual. A minister even throws a fancy garden party during the first night of the blackout. People apparently have big stashes of candles, food and patience. This scream for a satirical "100 things I learned from"-list.

Black-Out does offer the occasional thrill, a particular late night pursuit is well executed and can be considered the highlight of the show, but at its best Black-Out is only mildly entertaining.