The Last Panthers

An underrated trans-european series that is very enjoyable as long as you don't mind subtitles.

In this dark tale of criminal activity, morality is not simple black and white and although there is much back story it is handled fairly well and provides more emotional impact in the later episodes.

The main players are - Kahlil, a french detective who has recently returned to Marseille where his mother, sister and criminal brother live. Milan, one of the diamond heist team who had hoped the proceeds would pay for his brother's operation but instead has to reopen connections with Serbian gangsters. Naomi, sent by her shady boss (the excellent John Hurt) to retrieve the stolen diamonds. She is then sent from Marseille on to Belgrade against her wishes.

If you can cope with three different languages over the 6 episodes you will be rewarded when the various plot strands come together at the end .

Starts with an old-fashioned diamond heist, but then the series dives deep into the lives of its three lead protagonists and explores the links between crime, war and finance. The characters have enough depth, and the cinematography and music are brilliant. But it somehow fails to build enough tension with ammo of information it has. The various circumstances blur the line between professional and personal in the lives of these characters. Overall, it's intelligent and insightful, and really uncovers the kind of world which perpetuates crime and creates criminals. The series is clear in its message - Intended or not, with or without a choice, once you find yourself entangled in a web of crime, there's rarely a happy or non-violent outcome... unless, of course, you're one of the rich people bankrolling it. The diverse perspective on morality was welcome and commendable; it puts us in the shoes of various characters, and kind of makes the whole journey thought-provoking.

Was really intrigued by the connection of real-life instances relating to the 'The Pink Panthers' and the Bosnian War. And really glad that the rise of Eastern European shows and peoples' interest in them led to an international co-production of a trilingual crime thriller. The casting is brilliant; couldn't have asked for better one. Hope it marks the beginning of a new era of internationally co-produced multilingual shows.

The Last Panthers doesn't quite have the confidence to really deliver on its premise. Everything feels a little flat and unremarkable, particularly Sam Morton who's character feels like a tenth generation photocopy of Sofie Gråbøl's Sarah Lund from similarly toned "The Killing". Ultimately there's not enough emotional engagement with anything in the pilot - I didn't care about any of the characters enough to want the insurance team, the police or the thieves to win. It was more just a bit of intrigue as to how the logistics might play out. Considering the far superior shows out there, its hard to invest my time in a season when the pilot feels as flat as this.

Was looking forward to this series so much, only to watch it and feel like more could of been done. This had so much potential, considering the brazen robberies the panthers have pulled off in the past I felt that the last panthers robbery didn't even make sense, they were in cars but decided to jump out create a ring of fire and run off on foot? One good action scene in the first episode apart from that a lot of dialogue. Ending wasn't to great, I don't see how they'll make a second series. It's worth a watch if you're bored with nothing else to do,but if you had high expectations The Last Panthers will disappoint...

6/10

My Review- The Last of Panthers 2015/2016 Streaming on ABC IView My Rating 7/10 I must be honest and say I really only watched this very interesting 6 part series because I'm catching up on the early projects of Tahar Rahim but I'm glad I did .

My only criticism is that the complex plot like so many series jumps back and forth in flashback which I find a bit confusing.

The Last Panthers is a Franco-British crime drama television series created by Jack Thorne and directed by Johan Renck. It is a fictional story inspired by the notorious Balkan jewel thieves the Pink Panthers. The profits from the sales of stolen diamonds was laundered to supply guns and ammunition to be used in the cruel and destructive War in Bosnia Independent Claims Specialist Naomi (Samantha Morton) is given the job by her boss, Tom (Sir John Hurt), of recovering stolen diamonds, no matter what it takes. Also on the trail of the diamonds, from a different direction, is Police Officer Khalil (Tahar Rahim). The investigation takes them across Europe and into a world where shadowy figures control events.

The series is almost monochrome in parts with just a hint of colour in the flashback sequences. It's a very effective technique also in depicting the Bosnian War which was characterised by bitter fighting, indiscriminate shelling of cities and towns mainly perpetrated by Serb, and to a lesser extent, Croat and Bosniak forces.

Filming took place mainly in London, Marseille, Montenegro and Belgrade, and the story will be in English, French and Serbian.

There are many key roles in this series beside Tahar Ramin who is excellent.

It's an ensemble piece and one of Sir John Hurts last great performances he died 2 years later. Samantha Morton as the Claims specialist is also excellent as is Goran Bogdan as Milan Celik one of the fugitive brothers .

I would have preferred episode 6 to earlier in the series because it flashbacks to Naomi Franckom's (Samantha Morton ) involvement in the Bosnian conflict and her association with Milan's father.

However I'm very glad I watched this if only to remind me of the State of the World and how little we really know of what goes on behind the scenes of World events and what roles some of the people and Nations we place our trust in.