The Divide

Gets off to an interesting start... not what you would expect, as obstacles to trying to exonerate the (apparently obviously) guilty arise, and are seemingly insurmountable.

'Justice don't play right when colour is involved...'. An interesting quote from the African-American prosecutors who struggle with some 'shortcuts' they took to get the original conviction.

Characterized by good performances.. bit of gruff language and some sensuality, but not like what you see on many cable-network produced shows, or European equivalents.

Now available on Netflix.

As a former lawyer and one who fell out of love with the law, the way that this show discusses the machinery of the law struck a strong chord with me. While we have seen much of the legal procedural that this show portrays elsewhere, I also loved the very real and complex relationships within an extended and blended African American family, where the mother and father are legal professionals, and there is the shadow of trauma and loss in the background. I love that they are intelligent, sensitive and caring people, they are also very fallible. The writers tempt us to see these and other characters hidden motives as evil, but it is an intentional trap; there really is little true arch evil in the world - just the damage that comes from assumed and apparent evil. Highly recommended.

Is every negative review of this from an American right-winger knocking off 5 stars over a single throwaway line (about Fox News)? Wow. OK (1) this is what people say in the real world, call them liberals if you want but it's about half of your country from what i understand and (2) it's just one line out of thousands of well written ones in a fictitious TV show. Actually that line made me cringe when i heard it because it felt gratuitous and awkward and not funny. BUT to discount all the other wonderful writing because of that one line says far more about you and your intolerance than the show. You could just as easily read it as satire or as part of 1 character, rather than a comment on everything by the writers.. also (3) it's a touch ironic given the title!

Anyway, I don't like police and law procedurals in general or politics on TV but i'm half way through S1 and it's pretty gripping stuff so far. There's lots of great drama and character shading on the both the "good" and "bad" guys, with solid acting all around. The younger people in this are particularly solid. The younger guy accused of murder reminds me of Ewan McGregor, both are great actors. The lead actress is very watchable,they have great chemistry together. Some of the racial stuff feels a bit heavy handed though but i'm not really qualified to comment (also I'm not American either), luckily there's enough else going on besides race and politics to make this appeal to almost anyone i'd think. There's almost too many interrelated characters in the ensemble so it's starting to feel like quite a small world by ep5! The music montages are a bit cheesy but they don't happen too often. Every ending keeps me wanting to come back for more so it's doing something right!

If that one line wasn't there causing such silly outrage in a subset of the audience, would this be one of the highest rated new shows of the year? I'm slightly concerned where the Zale connections are going and whether this show will manage to remain grounded in reality or go all conspiracy crazy, we'll see!

edit: finished S1 in one weekend, pleased to say they didn't **** the ending up! The pacing and introduction of characters was spot on. The constantly cold exterior sets a good mood, a little like the Coen Brothers' Fargo. Worth saying something about the violence in this show also. it's extremely precise, almost a Goodfellas mafia sort of feel, very shocking, often unexpected, and always a necessary part of the story. This one doesn't pull any punches. I would say it's pretty underrated on IMDb (currently 7.5) probably because it has literally divided its audience (groan!) into most who love it and some who hate it. Really looking forward to S2 on this one.

I am devastated. I have finished watching the whole series in Netflix, didn't know it was canceled and can't believe it because the show is excellent, and the story very catching. What's the matter with the US TV shows that neglect the audience all the time leaving us with no proper ending. This show leaves us with a lot of situations to be resolved and revealed. I am really disappointed. Sometimes I feel I won 't see more shows until I know they were a success with a due finale. Hate to realize how stupid we are to trust a TV network. 3 more episodes would have rounded the ending and al least let us have a sense of accomplishment!!

The Divide premiered with a 2 hour episode, the totality of what I have seen at the time of writing this review.

At first glance it appeared to be the story of a legal battle between a zealous prosecutor and an initiative trying to establish death row inmates' innocence.

I was perfectly okay with that being the scope and focus of the story, but by the end of the 2 episode pilot it was clear the show was looking at a much broader view of the Judicial system and corruption.

This leads to the introduction of a multitude of complex characters who each have mysterious motivations and goals, and also the establishment of several plot lines for future episodes. Some are acknowledged by the characters themselves, while at least one was only vaguely insinuated.

I was highly entertained by the pilot, and the excellent way the story matured and evolved to be a different and more far reaching than I had ever anticipated sold me on this being one of the best new shows of 2014. Highly recommended to anyone who enjoys political or criminal themes in their television.