Jo

Just when it was getting interesting, it was cancelled. The criticism about American accents notwithstanding, very little about this show disturbed me at all. The unFrenchness of the cast made Jean Reno's role stand out much more and I suppose my bilingualism made me not only appreciate his English accent more, but also allowed me to understand it.

It definitely had things going for it, although yes, the casting was a tiny bit weak: Reno's boss didn't quite have the stature one might expect of a senior cop, and Reno's daughter might have been a tad TOO vulnerable but in a way, these small apparent failings were not really negative and certainly didn't detract from my enjoyment overall.

Interesting stories, interesting routines (I liked the semi-comical back and forth between team members at the beginning of each case), a very believable and likable cop in Jean Reno and of course, Paris, all went to make it something of a disappointment for me that there won't be any suite.

Jean Reno is as great as usual. Most of the scripts were solid; a couple were excellent. This is labeled as a miniseries, but it ended like a first season of a sure-to-be-continued series... which it wasn't, as the Gods of Renewal chose to bestow their blessings upon other supplicants. The crimes providing the main theme for each episode were cleared, but significant interpersonal and character and plot threads running throughout were not. The result was ending on a sour note, diminishing my regard for what I'd been thoroughly enjoying for 7.5 of its 8 hours.

I'm a big fan of Jean Reno, so I'm watching Jo. Not bad, not good. But will someone explain to me why a series filmed in France has everyone speaking with an American accent except Jean? I just don't get it...

Luckily I had recorded 3 episodes of this before watching because I'm not sure I would have bothered watching any further episodes after the 1st one. There seems to be a tendency for new crime series to follow the Scandinavian style in series such as Borgen and I don't have a problem with this especially in Jo. As with all good detectives the main character is flawed, they wouldn't be so good at their job if they weren't I guess. The cast is great particularly Jean Reno and Tom Austen, the Morse and Lewis of Paris.

So why have I only given it 7 stars? Well, it's a slow-burner for a start. I've just seen episode 3 and am enjoying it more as the series progresses. However, I'm not invested in any of the main characters. Jo himself has a troubled past and a tumultuous relationship with his daughter who also has problems, but so far I don't really care. Secondly, this is a series set in France with mainly British actors, good British actors, and yet, they are all adopting American accents. I don't know why unless this is because the producers didn't think an American audience would understand the British accent. Ironically, of course, Jean Reno speaks with a thick French accent and he doesn't compromise that here. If there is to be another series please, please drop the fake American accents because it is needless and annoying and might be the thing that will make me and other, switch off.

What a waste of the superb talents of Jean Reno! The only actor permitted to speak with a French accent (well, he could hardly do any other) but its completely unfathomable why the rest of the cast - many of whom are English - are forced to speak with an America accent. Why? I can only assume it was done to improve the appeal to a US audience - but surely if they can understand Jean Reno, they can understand the likes of Sean Pertwee speaking in their own tongue?

My other complaint would be the deliberate wobbly-cam - something that always winds me up. Why do it? I'm pretty sure I don't move my head around when I'm trying to listen to someone.

There are some good stories here - one standout jewel is Episode 6 with a moving performance by Sam Waterston. Perhaps character backstories were expected to come into play in later series but it was predictably canned after its first season.

Overall - worth watching - but be prepared to get annoyed with it!