The Woods

The Woods - B (Good)

Coming from Poland, I believe show did a good show making it viewable for anyone around the world. The cast as young and older versions match, so their performances makes you care for ark of their characters. With six episodes, I found the show very bingeable. Young Pawel (Hubert Milkowski) and Laura (Wiktoria Filus) performances standout as grieving young lovers with guilt.

I did feel, as there were four stories going at the same time; Past camp murder and disappearance of kids, Past story about his mother, Present rape prosecution case and then Present Police investigation into him in reference to new death made it bit complicated as story's focus keep shifting to all these four elements and the current rape prosecution case ends on very lacklustre result.

If the story focused primary was on past camp mystery and current murder case it would have intensified the series as they should have been the prime focus due to their connection. Overall, the show is a good attempt and doesn't disappoint.

This was a gripping series...until the last episode or two. The plot holes are so large that, frankly, the resolution doesn't make any sense. For example, one character ends up somewhere where they logically could not be.

The pacing also had issues. Way too many long scenes of people staring off into space or kids posing for the camera only to have some important plot detail rushed through as quick as possible.

I hope the book is better because I really can't recommend the show.

I read a book. I also watched two previous Harlan Coben's tv series. Based on previous experience I was expecting something similar to Safe or Stranger. And it is not the same! Not at all!

What I found annoying about Safe and Stranger was the fact that all that middle aged average families live in the houses that most people living in UK won't be able to afford. And here we have Poland. And polish scenery. And public sector worker living in the flat like many other polish people!

I also loved summercamp. I remember going to the ones like the one from The Woods myself.

And series is in very slow pace, what helped to create atmosphere and gave time to reflect on the events, however I can imagine that for many people the show will be boring.

I don't normally write here. In fact, I don't even master English writing. Therefore, I apologize for any serious mistake. But I felt the need to warn you of what is to come by watching this show. If you like mystery, you may even like the series to some extent. It's the type that holds you in front of the TV, that makes you want to go through episode by episode without stopping for a glass of water. The problem is the holes in the script and the lack of explanations for the events, especially in the final half, when some facts are throw on screen without any basis just to justify later situations. The characters' inexplicable attitudes are frequent and their respective developments are more like patchwork quilts. All of this leads to an ending that leaves more questions than answers. Europe has been producing interesting shows lately. But this is not one of them, although it is far from a horrible show. It is watchable. For those looking for a dose of mystery, it is a good choice. However, those looking for script quality, plausible development and a good pace next to the mystery, stay away.

This is an intriguing, twisty, heartfelt drama from the mind of the great Harlan Coben. It's great that he is so focused on opening our eyes to talent across the world, and doesn't assume that the best actors come from America. Make the effort to watch this with the subtitles instead of the English language dub; the dub loses all of the emotion and intonation from the rather wonderful Grzegorz Damiecki, who really brings home the heartache of a man who has lost everyone he loves and is searching for answers.