Carambotti

This is a comedy series dressed up as international political intrigue, entirely unshackled from the consequences of the real world. The political machinations of heads of state somehow has a sexy side to it? Russia/Iran bad. US/UK good. Very tired tropes. An entire series about the dangers of the middle east, and not a single mention of Israel? Great set pieces, locations, production values. London and the British countryside look dazzling in this telling. Everywhere else is erased. One lense you could watch this series through is how frequently everyone is holding a glass of straight, hard alcohol.

The setup and location is all very promising. But by 5th episode, I couldn't take the bumbling oopsies that pass for slight comedic relief. Teo gets yelled at for being careless as he cleans, while Ravn literally smears himself all over the tent that Vilma is kept in, while he is bleeding out of his eyes. Having been thru a real, global pandemic, it's silly to see how careless and thoughtless this show spent on the pandemic sub-plot. I get the purpose of plot device is to play on our fears, but this is just unimaginative. Incompetant police detective, bumbling, hapless muscle thug, husband that will sacrifice others to save his doomed wife, and a mastermind that surveils all but never quite connects. And yet again, clunky cell phone texting gets used as a stand in for clever writing. Bummers.

Strangely bad, content-free. I hoped Sarah Michelle Geller would bring at least some self-awareness to this YA plot. Production values are standard tv procedural, cgi wolf eyes are lame, and the suspense-o-matic sound effects are cringy. The plot is convoluted, with timelines jumping around, bad guys lurking, and parents weirdly unaware and ineffective. This all feels like the thinnest pretext to showcase male torsos as eye candy. Why is this even made? The kids don't get to emotionally grasp anything, as they are bewildered with their metamorphosis. And the biggest miss is that there isn't a whiff of comic relief in sight. This is all a very serious show.