Ice

What a different tour of story involving diamonds. The first episode was outstanding with the hyhenas had me throwing my legs up on the couch lol.

My first ever review on IMDB and I just have to say: This show is REALLY great! It starts out slow, but grows into the drama that you can't stop binge-watching. (This is not a fake review, btw, like others have said about positive reviews, I guess you either love it or hate it. And I love it!)

Cam Gigandet, in particular, really surprised me in this one - he loves playing bad guys/douchebags in general, but in 'Ice' he's different - so real, so mature and a truly great actor; I wish he had more roles like this! All the other actors have done a terrific job as well, especially Judith Shekoni (who reminds me of Uma Thurman because they have similar facial features and gracefulness). It's almost like watching real life and real people and that's what grabbed my attention. One of the best scenes is the escalation between the two brothers at the funeral - the fight scene was hot!! (However, Cam seems to have forgotten all of his fight training from 'Never Back Down'. Lol. JUST KIDDING).

So, all in all, a really great show and Cam deserves a special round of applause for growing as an actor! I have a hard time starting to watch new shows, but this one I don't regret and will be re-watching again in the future for sure. Recommend.

Films about family have been a staple of TV ever since the very beginnings ("I Remember Mama", "I Love Lucy", "Father Knows Best") where the original focus was on the domestic life. This was equally true of daytime TV ("Search for Tomorrow"). The shows broadened out to include the impact of the business world on the domestic family life ("The Donna Reed Show") and sometimes the "business" was an equal focus ("Bonanza", "The Andy Griffith Show", Dick van Dyke Show", "Steptoe and Son").

TV moved from the family focus to the business end of the family but there was always room for the domestic shows ("Waltons"). With few exceptions ("Adams Family", "Dukes of Hazard") the families were relatively normal ("Happy Days", "Little House on the Prairie", "Jeffersons", "Eight is Enough").

"I Claudius" (1976) is probably the first TV show to focus on a dysfunctional family, although this was a BBC mini-series and not a regular prime-time show. A few series were clearly featuring families with problems ("Married with Children", "All in the Family") but these were comedies, and as late as the 1990s most families were relatively wholesome ("Cosby Show", "Home Improvement", "Wonder Years", "Fresh Prince").

"The Sopranos" (1999) gave us our first family from a different point of view and series like "Dexter" (2006), "Breaking Bad" (2008), "Sons of Anarchy" (2008), "Bates Motel" (2013), and Ray Donovan (2013) continued the trend. In the new breed of family crime shows the crime elements far outweigh the family elements.

"Ice" is about a family involved in the jewelry business, but most of their time is spent beating people up or being beaten, killing people, having sex, using drugs, and roaming around Los Angeles. Jeremy Sisto plays the guy who gets in trouble and Cam Gigandet is the brother who bails him out. Neither one seem suited for their role. Ray Winstone mumbles his way through the scenes trying to help his nephews, and Raymond J Barry spends most of his time unconscious. Judith Shekoni is outstanding, but not for this series, and she seems out of place. The production values are excellent and the music is good. Photography is excellent.

I prefer my crime family series (or films) to be as much about the family dynamics as they are about the crime. It's why I enjoy "Ray Donovan" or "Breaking Bad" or even "I Claudius". When you focus too much on the crime you may as well make a crime film/series and take out the family element. It's a delicate mix and the mix in "Ice" doesn't work for me. By the end of the first two episodes there isn't much to want to get me to come back and watch more.

I watched 3 episodes and that was more than enough for me. How is is possible for some to rate this 1 or 2 stars and others to rate it 9 or 10 stars. IMDB is being corrupted by disingenuous reviews. There are more TV shows than ever being made, but there are still very few quality shows. IMO this is not a quality show.

This show mixes business, crime and family. I think the characters are interesting and evolve as the story moves along. I really wish that there were more seasons.