Riviera

My Review - "Riviera " Season 2 and Season 3 on SBS Iview

Season 1. Rating 8/10 Season 2. My Rating 7/10. Season 3. Rating 6/10

This is just a short review as I think this Series is a text book case of a good beginning to a Series that shows promise but doesn't deliver the same impact or script standard that its subsequent series had with it's script writers going off in silly tangents .

It was so interesting to read that Neil Jordan the original writer and creator has disowned Riviera, due to his scripts being reworked by others. He says he has no idea who rewrote these episodes. "They were changed, to my huge surprise and considerable upset. There were various sexual scenes introduced into the story and a lot of very expository dialogue. I objected in the strongest terms possible."

After I gave Series 1 a very credible rating of 8/10 it was soon obvious in Series 2 that the melodrama and incredible plot line had derailed the quality of Series One .

However I ploughed on hoping for some improvement. We still had the beautiful setting of The lavish Clios Villa in the Côte d'Azur plus other glorious locations but the characters especially Georgina (Julia Stiles) and their self serving self indulgent motives really started to irritate.

I think it's because in Series 1 Georgina had some motive for her behaviour after all she'd innocently married into the Clios family and discoverd it a nest of vipers but in the following series she becomes just as calculating and nasty as the rest of them.

We're introduced to a new character Lady Cassandra Eltham (Juliet Stevenson who has a chalet down the road that houses secrets that will bring the Clios family and Georgina to their knees.

Sound melodramatic? It is ,she even has a prisoner locked in her tower and her son and daughter Daphne (Poppy Delevingne ) and Nico (Jack Fox) add to the drama and suspense.

If I thought the plot twists started to go to turn into bad melodrama in Series 2 they really became unfathomable in Series3.

Series 3 was just silly Georgina now Georgina Ryland ( her name before Clios) has left the vipers nest in The Riviera and all the mayhem behind.

She is now an Art Dealer in London and begins hunting for the stolen Art Treasures that were the spoils of War by the Third Reich.

She partners up with Gabriel Hirsch Rupert Graves and sets off to Venice another glorious location.

I like Rupert Graves work but in this role he didn't impress me at all and I think it's because his role was so undefined. He and Georgina are not romantically involved, Georgina's too driven and involved with herself for that. Gabriel Hirsch seems just an accessory along for the ride and gets into much strife and inconvenience along the way because of Georgina.

We also find Georgina forcibly committed to the most lavish resort style Asylum against her will by a wicked Pharmaceutical CSO.

This provided some very melodramatic moments that reminded me of Mel Brooke's "High Anxiety" Then the series turns to another glamour location Buenos Aires Argentina for a Political twist it all gets too much to consider why or how Georgina and Gabriel got to this newest adventure.

I'm glad I stayed with the 3 Series but I'll not watch a fourth if that happens "Riviera" looks fabulous but it's a shame as the original creator said his vision was "reworked" and not effectively in mu opinion by others .

As of now, Sky Atlantic hasn't confirmed that there's going to be a new season. However, the show hasn't been cancelled either, so there's hope for a 'Riviera' Season 4 release date to be announced soon. Additionally, Stiles has talked about the future of the show in an interview.

Let's be clear: Rivera is not a masterpiece neither is what you would call "an art show". Thanks to a pretty envolving plot and a wonderful mise en place it's a show you can perfectly enjoy unpretentiously. Its strong point is certainly the photography and the breathtaking locations of the French Riviera, that unfolds between cover villas and luxury cars and yachts.

I define it a "summer" show because it's definetly one of those show you can enjoy in summer, when after lunch the weather it's too hot to do anything.

Many coincidences and unbelievable out of character changes .However I enjoyed season 1 of this drama Julia Stiles makes it worthwhile Pity about the ending though

Seasons 1&2 were so good and loved the whole French Riviera with its glam and glitz. Billionaires, yachts, money, fast cars, corruption all perfect. Season 3 lost this and most of the cast that we grew to love or hate from the first 2 seasons. Rupert graves was just a bit flat and didn't really add a lot. It tired to be deep with the story with his wife but it just fell short.

First half:

A slowly unravelling mystery around a rich art dealers death seen through his widows eyes. Very enticing plot development and pace, great settings, outfits, direction, editing etc.

Second half:

A bit of a mess that never recovers. Im not sure if all the episodes where written by the same people and didn't bother to check. But the second half of the series was seriously lacking in all above mentioned areas, except setting and outfits which didn't change. Not much made sense, and the quality of the whole show plummeted to a cable channel daytime soap opera level.

Watch it if you have nothing to kill some time with, or leave it on in the background while you make use of your time otherwise. Don't expect any brilliant twists or a great ending.