Liaison

So far the story is quite intriguing. Yes, it is a typical spy thriller, but if well done I think spy thrillers can be very entertaining even if they follow cliches and tropes (Jack Ryan does this very well). So far this series is a mix between "Jack Ryan" and "Slow Horses".

Vincent Cassel and Eva Green are great actors and they can make this a worthwhile watch even if the story is quite predictable so far and does rely on the typical cadence of spy thrillers.

If you watch it, I recommend not using the "English" audio setting as they decided to dub the French, Arab and Russian dialogue in this setting and it's horrible. If you select the "French (France)" audio setting you get English dialogue in English, French in french, Arab in Arab and Russian in Russian - just makes the international atmosphere much more authentic instead of dubbing everything to English.

There seems no escaping the fact that this show is being wrecked by a script which is at times just woeful.

As an example, throughout the show we see some pretty sophisticated IT infrastructure and deployments, and yet on the Brit side, the guy basically in charge of the governments IT platform demonstrates less understanding than you would expect from an undergrad - and who says things that are just plain wrong on so many levels. Not good.

Then there's the hospital scene where the PA announces "Can any doctors go to room # (can't remember the room #) - I mean - it's a hospital, hospitals are full of doctors... do they need a brain surgeon or an oncologist?

Despite the frequent gaffes like these the actual story is a good one - and with some very sharp script writing it could have been an excellent one. Shame.

On the other hand, Liaison is almost saved by having a great cast, great locations, and some snappy cinematography, all of which convey a slick production - so it's actually a real shame that the script is so bad at times, because that just wrenches you out of absorption. And it's not just a dialogue problem, there's also an awkwardness to some of the plot exposition that has left me more than little confused at times.

So the real quandary here is how could something with so many promising and professional elements have been so badly mismanaged in the script development department?

I have not wanted to watch a series, or binge watch, in a long time. For me personally, Peripheral was awesome and believe it or not, i totally wanted to watch this entire series, but it only comes out weekly. It really gripped me. And I am very, very picky. It just feels very unique. A list actors. Written very well and a nice pace which is great for my ADD media watching. Eva is awesome is as always. Cassel, Mulan, etc are awesome. Really all the acting is the best. I really got brought into the story right away. I forgot everything else, I forgot and just sunk right in. And that is hard for me to do. I usually have my critic hat on for a while before I believe the story. But not with this. So I hope you like it as much as I did.

The show starts out OK, and looks to be promising. But the further the story goes, the more lame/unbelievable the writing is becoming.

Over the course of the series we get to know the characters and a bit about their backstory. Vincent Cassel and Eva Green work well together and should have had the back of better writers.

The technology involved is as always not really good read up about by the writers. They make it seem too simple, especially since it also involves a Cyber security agency which would certainly have noticed some leads, as it's impossible to leave no traces, especially IF someone on the inside would be part of it (I'm not saying that it is in this show).

But the ending is just lame writing, especially considering how certain people behave during the series. It really puts a big domper on the whole series as you really think, is this what I have spend almost 6 hours watching for? The whole last episode is just a culmination of bad writing. And that's really sad, as it could have been a great show, but the ending really ruins it (and some parts in the middle also drag too much).

I'm not going to brag about the bad or good reviews. I've watched season 1 in a couple of days and I enjoyed watching it. It's not that I will recommend and praise it. But it's not bad at all!

I've seen much French people complaining about subs (or it's absence of it). I'm a French native and I don't need English subs only for the Arabic parts. I actually enjoyed the fact Cassel and Green switched languages depending on whom they're talking to. It gave it an extra real feeling. And that should be more often the case.

Regarding the story, I feel it could have gain more thickness if there was a few more episode to develop some of the characters, mostly the one of Albert.

On the tech bases, yes there are a few hick-ups but that's often the case in series... Liaison is far from perfect, but if Apple keeps on investing in European productions, their level will rise up! And definitely, that will change us to some us superprods which offer nothing...

And on a personal note: using teardrop by massive attack is spot on! 👍