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Created by Steve Bailie, the Romanian crime series “Subteran” aims for pacey, slick thrills. There are backstabbing, double-crossing, hidden identities popping to the fore, and all kinds of revelations designed to amp up the drama. Yet why does it feel so curiously lethargic, as if the show doesn’t quite know how to direct its manipulative, confident, and scheming characters onto a riveting, cohesive course of action?

Subteran (2025) Episode 1 Recap:

“Subteran” opens in media res. A car is burnt. A woman is advised by a man to wholly disappear. There’s danger in the air. Quickly backstories are rolled out and we are introduced to who these people are. The woman is Cami Serbu (Ana Ularu). She is an It consultant. Her partner Luca has got himself in deep trouble, though he himself invites it.

The man in the first scene is Bones (Cezar Grumazescu), the working partner of Luca.

The Romanian show Subteran tells the story of Cami, a young mother and It consultant. Cami’s boyfriend is kind Luca, who works for the Bucharest police, and one night he says he’s going to go out for some work without giving her any more details. What Cami doesn’t know is that this is a secret mission, and he’s trying to infiltrate a criminal organization. When he’s there, Luca calls Cami to consult her about a laptop given to him by the guy he’s meeting, who’s known as “The Bank.” The Bank is the accountant of the head of the criminal organization; he’s encrypted all of the guy’s money and secrets in this laptop. However, what the Bank doesn’t realize is that he’s not very smart, so his boss already knows what he’s up to and gets his daughter Tili to deal with him.

Following Cami, an It specialist whose life is turned upside down when she witnesses her fiancé, a police officer, being killed during a video call, Subteran transports viewers into Bucharest’s criminal underworld. This trauma sparks her transformation into a determined vigilante, navigating a world rife with corruption and moral gray areas.

The series’ first episode starts with a terrifying scene of fear that sets a serious tone. Some important events, like her last call with her fiancé and getting involved with the Tanase crime family, quickly throw Cami into the world of crime. In addition to putting Cami in danger, this situation also illustrates larger societal problems, showcasing the difficulties women face in patriarchal systems.

Subteran challenges traditional storytelling by putting a woman at the center of a gritty crime story, inviting viewers to engage with themes of justice and survival in a changing cultural landscape.

Unmasking Resilience: Cami...

The Romanian Netflix original Subteran is actually a pretty fun crime thriller. Sure, it’s got a predictable plot and common themes that we’ve seen a million times before, but it definitely keeps you engaged from start to finish. The 6-parter tells the story of Cami, a mother who happens to witness her boyfriend, a police officer, being murdered on video call. What follows is a series of unfortunate events for Cami in which her son Matei is kidnapped by the criminal organization that killed her boyfriend. In Subteran’s penultimate episode, Tili and Dracu kidnap Matei while Cami hangs on to the laptop with all of Tili’s dad’s money. Nicolae learns that his favorite daughter, Crisi, has died, and that Dracu and Tili already know about it. But he pretends otherwise and gets Dracu to drive him to the morgue to see his daughter’s charred body.