D'argent et de sang

Inspired from actual events that happened in France during the late 2000's, this fast paced and engrossing tale is sometimes hard to watch because it is very painful to see that such folks can exist, breath, eat, enjoy life. Yes, it was sometimes a torture for me to see such characters, splendidly played of course, enjoying life after cheating the tax payer's money, thru a high scale swindle. I hated them so much that I fought against myself not to smash my TV set to kkill them. And what a delight to see those mother f....at long last obtaining what they deserved. Because whilst they spent their money, they "bled", it was like blood they left on their track, then sharks around them were not long to appear. Olivier Marchal already made CARBONE, back in 2017, speaking precisely of this swindle.

Being familiar with the story and protagonists I enjoyed tremendously the first 6 episodes, upbeat tempo and well played. But the last 6 episodes are going circles with the never ending speech from Vincent Lindon. Yes he has political ambitions but the conformist rambling about finance (where he confuses many different things) doesn't add more depth, similarly as his insufferable daughter (sub-plot about her addiction is boring).

It looks like all the budget has been allocated in the first 6 episodes (with all the travels)... similarly the absence of Ramzy in the last episodes is unfortunate as he plays his character to perfection and brings more colors to the start of the season.

This show starts out really strong. The story is great, the characters are engaging and the acting doesn't disappoint.

You more or less know where the story is headed, but you still can't wait for the next episode.

With the exception of the annoying daughter plot (both the plot and the daughter), i really enjoyed myself.

Then comes the second part : episodes 6 to 12. The story becomes boring and repetitive. The characters you previously liked become annoying, and you find yourself unable to root for or relate to any of them. The acting remains good, but that's not enough to save the show.

It's a missed opportunity, they probably should've wrapped the show in 8 episodes.

The Carbon Scam has been the biggest one in French history. It took months to the French Administration to admit they had been stolen over a billion in Euros. Schneider shines as the broker fascinated with the lifestyle of crooks, then gangsters, who soon wanted their share. Scandal led to a bloodshed. Lindon plays his usual "decent man" but is not surprising. Olga Kurylenko adds dephts to a character who could have a caricature. The main surprise comes from comedian Ramzy Bedia as the eccentric, analpabetic but survivor crook, stealing the first half of the series. Director Giannoli cuts short any accusation of antisemitism (events took place within the Parisian Jewih community) by adding Israeli cops and a rabbi advising Lindon's character about his own repressed Jewsih origins.

This studio canal TV how starts strong but gets dumb very fast. The whole swindle makes no sense: VAT is not paid back by the central bank but by the buyer and the whole scheme was that the seller was keeping it after bankrupting the fake companies Who writes such idiocratic scripts? The customs officers and his junkie daughter side story is stupid, in fact all the side stories are dumb... Characters are dumb, dialogues are dumb. It drags on for episode with basically nothing happening. Canal plus recently produced great TV shows but most of them are stupid like this one. Save yourself the time and watch something else...