Benvenuti a Eden

Years ago they made a brilliant series called The Prisoner, with obscure but dark forces at work and strange events keeping things interesting.

Welcome to Eden starts out out like that, on a lovely Island and happy people, but it soon degenerates into a meaningless babble of eco-banalities and counseling-type encounters that leave your eyelids drooping.

There is a lot of Botox evident, and some pretty ladies and boys, but the prudish and timid story-lines suggests the producers realised halfway through that their target audience had dropped to around 13-14 years old. Weirdly boring.

Before I jump right into it, I gotta admit that I'm just on episode 3 which doesn't fully justify my rating. I will either increase or decrease the rating when I'm done with this season.

Anyway, the first episode kicked off with a big bang, very promising and wild-looking. It gave awesome vibes, kind of like Agatha Christie's "and then there were none". Unfortunately, episode 2 and episode 3 didn't really bring anything new to the table, in other words, there is absolutely nothing "plot-worthy" within these 80 minutes.

Episode 1 is more or less like an 8.5 and episode 2 and 3 are more like a low 5. Let's see how it progresses from here onward. I'll be back with a proper rating once I'm done with the remaining chunk :)

Edit: Okay, I am done with the remaining 5 episodes of this season and there's not really much I can add to my what I wrote after watching the first 3 episodes, this show definitely lacks plot build-up and a certain climax. So, in other words it's like a not seasoned steak. Bland. Or a straight line. A very huge shame. 5/10.

Welcome To Eden: Young adults get invited to a festival to launch of a new drink at a secret island location. But of the 100 who attend, 5 will not leave. A cult runs the island, they worship Mother Nature but aren't above using the latest surveillance technology to enforce strict obedience. A rather dark conspiracy thriller in which layer after layer is gradually revealed. Some rather graphic violent scenes. This is very much an adult series. The idea isn't new but this is an interesting iteration. Created & Written by Joaquín Górriz and Guillermo López Sánchez. Directed by Menna Fité and Daniel Benmayor. Eight episodes on Netflix. 7/10.

I'm not sure why some rated this so low. It's got a great build with character stories, and it leaves you in suspense. It's not necessarily high action, but definitely worth watching. Looking forward to the next season!

Interesting premise, bad development, terrible and lazy writing. Stupid characters, stupid decisions, one after another. Entertaining at some times but not worth your time. Predictable ending. Waste of a season, 8 episodes and you still don't know where the story is going or what's the point of all of it. Full of open questions. Definitely do not recommend.