Medici: Mestres de Florença

I am honestly baffled by the negative reviews for this show. While it wasn't perfect, for me the good far outweighed the bad. First, the strengths:

1) The soundtrack! The opening sequence is strong, and sets the tone beautifully for what is to come, and the moody instrumental music throughout the show added to the scenes without being distracting. 2) The entire thing is visually stunning. Seriously. From the landscapes to the sets, costumes, food, colors... the whole thing is a feast for the eyes. 3) Medici: Masters of Florence is a study in the dynamics of both a family and a city. If you enjoy political intrigue, relationship drama, or the arts, this show is where it's at. 4) The acting in this show is beautiful. Annabel Scholey's many layered performance as Contessina was stunning. Richard Madden can say more with just his eyes than anyone currently on television. Stuart Martin and Guido Caprino as Lorenzo Di'Medici and Marco Bello own the screen with their charisma.

I only saw two issues that detracted from the program. 1) The casting of Dustin Hoffman as Giovanni was a real head-scratcher. His accent and demeanor did not mesh with everything else, and the performance had the air of being something his agent forced him to do. Normally I really do love DH, but this was not his best.

2) This quality is a little harder to put into words, but I felt like the show took a while to find its footing--like it wasn't quite sure which direction it wanted to take. In spite of that, I couldn't stop watching, and really enjoyed this show. Looking forward to season 2!

I love period dramas, and I particularly like the idea of a drama centered around the Medici family. Acting is great, story line is great. There's one problem though, the audio engineering is HORRIBLE. It's often difficult to hear the dialogue, even when it's not being drowned out by the overbearing score. It's just not mixed well.

So while I love period pieces and feel the actors chosen to depict the main characters are stars in their own rights, I'm struggling to watch Medici. Struggling because I want to watch it and conversely because I can't hear a good portion of the dialogue. Can someone turn down the music and background noise please so I can hear the speeches? It goes super loud and then so quiet that the music drowns everything. majorly irritating because I actually care and want to devour this show....

Let me start by saying that I simply don't understand how this series seems to have been largely ignored by mainstream media. It has a devoted fanbase, but hasn't really taken off. Given the quality of the show, that's a travesty.

Anyway, about the show. Through all three seasons, with the changing cast as generations pass on, the quality of acting has been stellar. Actors are well cast and do a superlative job of bringing characters to life.

Needless to say, the stunning backdrops in Italy are magnificent. The productions values are right up there too, whether it be costumes, sets, whatever.

And a grate theme song by Paolo Buonvino and Skin.

If you haven't watched this, you really should!

I was a bit confused by Netflix and started watching the second series first, before realizing I needed to go back to the first season.

My main takeaway from spending 16 or so hours (give or take, see below) watching the first two seasons is that the entire show is just relentlessly distressing. What happens to these poor characters is a steady stream of horror. The Plague. Betrayal. War. Imprisonment. Betrayal. Beatings. Murder. Oh... And did I mention Betrayal?

I was so desperate as I got into the second half of the second series for something good to happen that I started fast forwarding. I just couldn't take it any more. I needed it to end.

Maybe that's in part due to binge watching this. The relentless "drama" (really, that's too tame a word for what transpires in these 16 episodes) just becomes too overwhelming.

I can't fault the acting, the production, etc. (aside from the music and sound problems). And the history is interesting -- I know quite a bit about Lorenzo, but Cosimo was less well known to me and I found those episodes intriguing.

I had trouble HEARING some of the dialogue. Due in part to the awful and overly loud music that they inflict on the audience, but also I swear that at times the actors are mumbling or that the audio was faulty. I even turned on closed captioning but (AND NETFLIX DO YOU KNOW THIS?) it appears many lines of dialog are totally missing. Like maybe 1 out of 3 or 4! What is going on here? At any rate, it was frustrating not hearing what the actors were saying -- especially at extremely key moments. That is something that is pretty unforgivable.

I wish I could say I recommend this. I wish there was more happiness and humor. Surely those times could not have been so ubiquitously dark and depressing? I read that a third series is on its way (more Lorenzo, it would seem) and I'm not even sure I want to watch it.

P.S. There is one reviewer who provides details on watching series 3. Is this person like the only person on the planet who has seen it? That is just bizarre.