Devils

This a brilliant series. With a very well chosen international cast. Based on a semi biographical book by a former investment banker, Guido Maria Bera. The characters have depth and the storyline lines jumps perfectly between the personal and the macro dwellings of the world of high finance. Its also a series that sheds light on how the european finantial crisis has in fact a man made catastrophe! Hope to see more of this.

After a slow start, the character development and story line is gripping. Thought provoking and enjoyable.

A deep series about the world of (real) finance and behind the scenes (fictional) machinations, with good acting, nice development, but with a horrible flow, near total lack of entertainment and boredom all upon you.

It is one of the very few series where the acting and screenplay are (+), whereas the flow and enjoyment are sub-zero. Sat and sat throughout the 10 episodes, to witness a very unsatisfying ending.

The producers should really consider finishing it here and forget about a more boring second season.

• Screenplay/story: 8.5
• Development: 8.5
• Realism: 7.5
• Entertainment: 6
• Acting: 8.5
• Photography/filming: 8.5
• Visuals/special effects: 7
• Music/score: 7
• Depth: 8
• Logic: 6.5
• Flow: 6
• Thrill/drama: 6.5
• Ending: 7.

I really enjoyed this series and found myself wanting to binge watch to find out how the plot ended. The actors were very convincing in their roles as traders in the share markets and the various plot twists kept the narrative interesting. I didn't feel you needed to be an expert in high finance to understand what was going on. It was entertaining and intriguing.

The first season probably should have been 6 episodes and not 10 because there is a stretch of episodes in the middle where very little seems to happen. Still, Devils was entertaining enough that I'd say it's worth a watch if the plot summary interests you. Beware, though, that there are some unintentionally funny elements. First, the voice over at the beginning of every episode that talks about the devil is extremely cheesy. It was also hilarious that the main characters are supposed to be brilliant traders, but employ the exact same strategy in every single episode. Seriously, if you take a shot every time they suggest shorting a stock you will be passed out in no time. Finally, the show takes place in 2011 and flashes back to 2001. The problem is the flashbacks are largely built around the Sofia character who, according to the credits is supposed to be 10 in 2001. It makes no sense then why the producers have cast a girl who looks far younger than 10 for the 2001 scenes and an actress in her 30s for the 2011 scenes. I cringed every time they did a flashback because of this.