Falcón

I agree with previous reviewers. Why set a series in Spain where no one speaks with a Spanish accent and the actors look as if they've been roped in from south of the Thames? Unsurprisingly, they all have English provincial accents, which would need subtitles to be understood, especially in America. This killed it for me. Also, Falcon, the so-called "brilliant detective", as he is billed in the promo, looks totally out of it most of the time, and bumbles from scene to scene, swilling some sort of suspicious liquid from a bottle. He has no street-smart skills, as one would expect from a seasoned detective, and gets clobbered by the "baddie" when he should have been paying attention. Basically he is an innocent at large. The first episode left the viewer hanging. The second, is little better. Some reviewers say each episode is 90 minutes, while the version I saw each was less than an hour. In an effort to be generous I ask the question: did a lot of it end up on the cutting room floor? In summary, the plot is convoluted and obscure, and frankly boring. Give it a miss.

I watched two episodes from Netflix. It was a painful, character-building challenge to sit through them:

* The storyline is confusing, murky, and meandering with flash-backs, flash-forwards and flash to I don't know where.

* The acting is weak ranging from A to B, and limited to long stare reaction shots.

* The dialog is clichéd and predictable.

* The blood and gore is gratuitous. It only exists to inject some excitement into the dreariness.

* The British accents are jarring when Spanish is expected.

* The lead detective is unprofessional and incompetent. He demonstrates terrible judgment and a complete lack of common sense.

* The sex is predictable and irrelevant.

Falcon is a waste of bits.

With all the UK actors currently in USA playing American characters, Walking Dead, Sons of Anarchy, Awake, House, Homeland to name but a few, why was this series filmed with very English accents, even the Spanish waiters. Documents were in Spanish but all accents could have been an episode from a UK crime drama, beautiful scenery but totally spoilt for us. Beautifully acted but no attempt to make it authentic despite being made for Spanish TV too, no doubt dubbed. Jason Isaacs, Damien Lewis, etc. I've read all 4 books but very disappointed. Unsure about Javier's drug taking, and why so British female characters too. Surely there are Spanish actresses available. Having watched 2 series of Romanzo Criminale in Italian with subtitles and being transfixed by the acting, something similar should have been done here.

Javier Falcon is a cool Spanish Chief Inspector based in Seville Spain. He is the brainchild of a British crime writer, Robert Wilson, who combined crime solving and the psychological development of the hero in a series of four mysteries. I think that understanding the author's background and intent may help readers understand some of the negative reviews of this highly entertaining and sophisticated work.

One reviewer complains that Falcon makes mistakes. In my view this is not a weakness of the work. Wilson's characters are fallible and thus human, credible and interesting.

Other reviewers complain that the actors do not affect Spanish accents. Well, it is an English language production. The Spanish setting for the story is well evoked through the scenery, the backgrounds of the characters, the sense of heat, a bull fight and the legal system in play. I was not at all distracted by the actors' natural English accents. If anything, they contributed positively and reinforced understanding of roles.

I am inclined to disagree with the reviewer who found the gore was extraneous. Shocking, yes, but it was relevant.

I agree that the sex did not have adequate lead-up. I too found the hero's constant drinking of bottled water tiresome. I have no idea what powdered street drug he uses to spike it. It certainly does not seem to alter his behaviour.

Yes, the plot is complex. Another strength. You will likely be left with questions and possibly a wish to watch the film again for the answers. It is that good.

There was a lot to like about this series, but it had issues, too. I agree with the other reviewer who complained about the English accents. This is par for British TV series set in foreign locales. They seem to think that their audiences won't like it if it's too "foreign", so they make little effort to make the characters look like the locals or even give them an accent. This is odd, because so many British actors are great in roles with foreign accents.

The other issue I had with the series is that I found it very hard to follow. Those who are intimately familiar with the novels probably knew what was going on, but I found myself at sea much of the time.

Otherwise, the photography and the locale were perfect. I doubt that there will be another season for this series, but if there is, I hope they provide a little more exposition to make it easier to follow.