Clean Sweep

On the plus side the lead actress was brilliant,a shame that does not apply to the rest of the cast. The two youngest kids were fine but the older son can't act to save his life,also the female detective based in London was portrayed like a cartoon character. I found the plot involving the characters from England to be confusing and there were times i did not know what was going on. Will be interesting to see whether or not there is a second series,but not really sure if it warrrants one. Overall it just about held my interest but there are far better series out there to watch,but if you have nothing better to see it is not a complete waste of time.

Shelly Mohan appears to be an ordinary house wife living in Wicklow. She is married to Jason, a sergeant in the Garda, and has three children; Derek, Caitlin and youngest Naill, who suffers from cystic fibrosis. It soon becomes apparent that she has a past none of her family know about. She is approached by a man in a car park who calls her Maggie. Later she goes to meet him at his hotel. It is clear that they were previously involved in something illegal. He has 'found Jesus' and believes both of them must come clean... she doesn't and shoots him! Life is about to get very complicated as her husband is given the job of finding the killer while she tries to carry on as normal. If that weren't enough there are plenty of ordinary family issues to deal with.

If you enjoy crime dramas and are looking for something a little different you could do a lot worse than this. There may not be a mystery concerning the identity of the killer but there are plenty of intriguing questions; most obviously concerning Shelly's past. Sometimes 'personal problems' can detract from a drama but here their serve to emphasise Shelly's apparently ordinary life... a life she will kill to protect. The cast is solid; most obviously Charlene McKenna who really impresses as Shelly. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to people looking for a new six-part crime drama who want something a little different.

I think there is some hometown cringe going on. I thought it was a very good show with a complex plot and complex family relationships .I thought the main character was excellent. We grew to know and love her and her children. We were invited into a real family, doing believable things. I cared for the characters.

Dealing with cystic fibrosis without grandstanding it, just quietly demonstrating the work required was noble and nowhere were issues overstated.

For me not living in Ireland, the scenery and different way of doing things deepens interest. The intertwining of the past and present keep the tension at a fairly high level. At several points when you feel the crime is about to be solved, they wriggle out of it but always in a believable way, easing the tension momentarily but not for long.

Did think it ended without a real resolution but I thought that was because a second series was planned. Is this not so?

I enjoyed this, partly, I think, because I'd never seen an Irish police thriller before. The main plot was gripping and well acted. I thought the ending was very well executed and certainly doesn't need to imply a second series, as some reviewers have said.

On the negative side, I found the family soap opera a bit tedious. The stories with the three children had nothing to do with the main plot. It's as if there were two competing programme ideas and someone had the not-so-bright idea of putting them both into one.

The English police scenes did not ring true at all and the histrionic outburst near the end was bizarre. Why was the superintendent (?) in charge of the case referred to as the "commissioner". It made no sense. The accents weren't always quite right either.

This drama deserves your attention, because so much of the details on the plot, narrative are done, excellently. The interfaces between the various members of the family, and the subtle nuances of what it is like to feel the friction of family. Life are done absolutely wonderfully...

The main characters, including the husband and wife and the children all play magnificently and deserve to be applauded.

Some of the supporting actors, including the female partner, Cop, the nightmare of the parent teacher Association, and the persistent London. Cop are all a bit overdone, but they cannot take away from the core magnificence of the leads.

It is set an island and has many other things going for it, but really taken as a whole piece, this is a very worthy drama that deserves your time and attention..