Penoza

Penoza means underworld (also crime scene as in 'the criminal world', not 'the place where a crime took place'). It's a superb Dutch series with incredible acting, a great storyline and an incredible cast. At the beginning of the first season, it soon became very obvious that Penoza was not an average series but one that had much more to offer. The series gained a lot of fans and critical acclaim all over. As a result of this, a second season was produced. The second season - of course - continues where the first one stopped and takes the viewer even deeper in the world of the leading character Carmen and her family and friends and all they experience when she unwillingly becomes more and more involved in the world of crime. I have to admit that the second season is even better than the first one. I'm very happy too, that a third season is being produced right now. This is very high quality stuff. Fact: the American TV Network ABC has produced the series Red Widow, based upon Penoza. The first few episodes have been broadcast only a couple of days ago. Even though I haven't seen Red Widow yet, usually nothing beats the original (even though for some people the fact of a series being subtitled keeps them from watching it). A real pity, as there are many non-English-language series out there, that are just too good to be missed (like the Danish series The Killing, The Bridge and another fantastic Dutch series called Overspel, the Dutch word for adultery). If you get a chance to watch this, do so!

After watching season 3 of Penoza, I increase my rating from 9 to 10. This season is even better than the first two, believe it or not. Amazing!

'The Godfather' explored the problems of an essentially good man trying to escape from his criminal family; 'The Sopranos' explored how such a family might live amongst the ordinary upper-middle classes. Dutch drama 'Black Widow' blends both these themes, as its protagonist is a mafia widow who finds herself lumbered by her murdered husband's criminal debts. It's strength is in displaying the ambiguous relationship that such this person (and the other non-combatants in the family) might have with their bread-winning relatives. But it lacks the operatic quality of the Italian drama 'Gomorrah' (my favourite mafia story of the year), and it's also lacks that drama's rich portrait of how organised crime permeates civil society. Overall, it feels mostly plausible, and well-plotted, but I found it a little hard to care about Carmen, our semi-innocent heroine who merely wants to continue her good life without having to pay for it.

This series is by far the best Dutch tv serie ever made. I've watch season one to three for at least 10 times. This series gives a good view into the Dutch crime scene. Since i'v worked as a prison guard i know this series gives a good inside view into Dutch crime. Not all the actors are that good but over all the character build up is pretty good. You really feel sorry for Carmen when she does everything to protect her family. Season one,two and three are really good. But after that it is getting real bad. And to complete the mess they cldsed it up with a really bad movie. But still i love the first seasons very much and will watch it again in the future because it still amazes me.

This woman "carmen" does nothing 'wrong', but is involved in a multitude of crimes and killings all in the name of protecting her family even thou she loses 2 husbands, a father and a sister. A bit unrealistic at times but a good drama to watch that is full on and entertaining. They probably milked it for a bit too long (5 seasons). The first 2 seasons are the best. Carmen is portrayed beautifully. She is a standout in the acting department in this series. Some of the acting for nat, luciene, and storm is a bit weak at times. Berry plays his role well. As i said they story lines goes off the rails the further the series goes which is really quite normal. Overall it was a decent watch.

This is a pretty average Dutch TV series that uses a well worn theme of a woman who takes over her husband's drug trafficking network. It's reminiscent of the Italian series where the daughter took over the Father's mafia network, and also the Mexican series, "Reina del Sur". The story is spotty in areas, and the overuse of flashbacks at the start, and during each new episode, becomes extremely annoying after a while. They lend very little to the continuing story, and one has to resist the urge to constantly "fast forward" through those scenes. Character development is good for the lead character, as it shows how the business can seduce anyone to become totally changed as a person. In other instances, more development could have been done with some of the other characters e.g. the detective Leeflang. The acting is average. While there are 4 seasons listed, I was only able to view two of those but if the other reviews on this site are right, the series seems to go downhill after season two so I may not have missed much.