Reunion

I have never left a review before but felt compelled to after the nonsense low ratings. I'm not a fan of drama. After seeing many shows talking about this before it aired I felt compelled to watch it for the idea of telling a story from a deft person who isn't just a deft person. It gives me anxiety with the camera shakes and the sound being muffles as you read the subtitles for the signing. It's brilliant. People complaining you can't connect with characters mostly due to having to read are the reason this show was done this way. They definitely proved a point and executed it well. Thanks to this my partner and I are signed up for BSL classes.

This show really like to show the same stuff over and over again; flashbacks, recalls. I swear one episode I watched and I was thinking "haven't I seen this before?"... aahh another flashback!

It also runs the typical cliché of corrupt cop and bad childhood trauma.

The only original thing this show has going for it is that it has deaf actors involved. So perpare yourself for reading a lot of text instead of voices and a lot of hand signs, whispering or weird noises coming out of their mouths. Sometimes it's a bit funny and I had to laugh several times.

There are also a lot of stuff that annoyed me: The characters deliberately refuse to answer questions or talk about sertain topics because that would ruin the slow pace of the show.

Also how long does it take to track down one guy in a town? If I really wanted to find someone who still lived there I wouldn't spend days or weeks finding him. Maybe couple of hours.

There is also a stupid scene with a cop that is batantly corrupt in front of an interpreter as he is filmed on camera. He tries to hide this by turning off the voice recorder in the room. But what about the camera? He doesn't know he is being filmed?

The only thing keeping me watching it is the good acting, funny moments and I want to know what happens. I probably won't find out since this is a running show with no ending, so either it gets cancelled or dragged on for so long I will quit watching before the end.

6 / 10.

I only watched the first episode. Might have watched the rest but...not keen on the style of storytelling whereby the viewer is kept in the dark and everything hinges on the big reveal. The acting was fine, the dark vistas apt for the narrative. Did not quite understand how the daughter went from totally hostile to being seemingly won over by her dad in next to no time? Where is the irony you say? Well, the rundown looking flats where the protagonist's daughter lived, is Park Hill, which was renowned for being not somewhere you wanted to be after dark, back when I were a lad that is, today, the refurbished flats are the hangout of the young trendy. I gave it 7 so as not to bring the rating down as it was probably worth another watch.

I'm having trouble writing this review as the normal words you use to describe a TV mini series just don't express the feelings you have when watching Reunion.

Yes the way it blends sign language, lip reading, subtitles and silence make it difficult to get used to at first but it isn't as difficult as being profoundly deaf actors delivering such awesome performances!

Yes it starts slowly as most do whilst the characters are introduced and cryptic hints to the plot are seeded.

Yes it isn't easy to fully appreciate the isolation, frustration. Anger, depression, misunderstandings, indifference and prejudice being experienced.... but we should shouldn't we?!

BUT at the heart of Reunion are some really important stories to be told and the twists and turns are every bit as good as a 'normal' thriller. Try to suspend the normal rules you use to judge this and see it for the groundbreaking, emotional, educational and absolutely awesome drama that it is.

I thought this a well made drama with a different context and well thought through story line, without any of the ridiculous plot line gimmicks that many so called drama series have these days. I enjoyed it!

It was good to see some new faces and great to see the effort that the hearing actors had put in to learn BSL.

I am very hard of hearing and have learned basic BSL, so the whole experience was a very refreshing change. At the same time I didnt see anything that should put a hearing audience off - the signing was subtitled but so many people these days use subtitles as a matter of course it shouldn't cause a problem.

More like this please!