King of Stonks

Based losely on the story of the biggest german financial Scandal of the Fintech Wirecard (Just google Wirecard.... ) mixed with Wolf of Walstreet elements. Painfully grotesk and extremely entertaining if you know the Back story.

I really wanted to like this. It's so original and full of ideas. Speed, energy, great acting, it's all there.

But I just can't connect. I hated these main characters so much, it was painful to watch. At times I had to force myself to watch.

Also, everything is so over the top, that I just stay outside. Exaggerated, but somehow not in a good way. The Mafia people, the Hermann brothers, the politician .... so crude, so unbelievable, such caricatures, that it's just not funny any more.

You know, Wolf of Wall street worked because we are WITH Leonardo DiCaprios characters from the beginning. He starts slow, he slides into it, he is kind and good hearted in the beginn, humble even, and corrupts slowly, by money, by fame, by power. That's what drags us into the film. We could be him, it could happen to us. The americans, rhey know how to do it.

None of that can be found in KOS. These types are crooks from the beginning, liars, arrogant and self-impressed, especially the CEO, you hate his guts from the start, what a pretentious solent prick. I cared for nobody. They could all have been shot or jailed, I couldn't care less.

Sorry guys but storytelling just doesn't work this way.

I felt the story was all over the place, and the editing only emphasized that. It felt chaotic at all times, and the story and the characters are shallow and lacking substance, and I think the producer knows that, so they try to spice it up with fast phasing so that the viewer doesn't get too bored.

Nice touch: in S1E3, Felix looks at a slide deck on his laptop. The scene starts at 00:28, we can see two slides, and the scene is cut 2 seconds later. The funny thing here is that the slides are based on the PowerPoint Slide Master of the company Wirecard (WCD). It cannot be ruled out that the show used original Wirecard-slides. Especially, the 40% CAGR, the world domination map looks all typically Wirecard from the financial year 2016/17. It stands to reason, that someone familiar with the subject and with mischievous ulterior motive used that old template or even a slide deck from that company.

It's corny and the memes are dorky and old fashioned. It's over the top and all over the place. A lot of kitsch. But I liked it. It's fast and funny. You're never bored. I can't help but compare it to a dark/funny Norvegian equivalent called "Exit" which is a stellar series about 4 wreckless egomaniac yuppies, really great plot and great actors. Kings of stonk does not have this, but in some strange way I just enjoy it a lot. It has a certian warmth that I like and it's unpretentious and fast.