A Grande Ilusão

This was fun and binge worthy, but agree with other reviews that the lead was flat and there was too much filler. The entire military angle felt very Americanized. The clues were well sown, and mystery fully resolved, but there were so many ridiculous things happening to keep the story going. Like the interruption to the one time we actually see supposed career woman Maya working...

My advice: watch this for Sami's storyline. His had the most payoff and by far the most emotional weight. Pretend he's the lead and the Maya storyline is the secondary narrative, it helps adjust expectations and suspend some belief.

Really! The first ten minutes were very good, but hindsight now shows me they were very bad and the whole show just stunk !. I must have missed something. I'm not going to watch it again to find out. We are sold a turkey and red herring from the get-go. I watched it last night and can't get it out of my head. Why oh why have they done this to me? Did I spite the script writers, director and actors in a previous life? My advice for all....... AVOID. I wish I had. I am not familiar with the author, but many here rate him highly. Is he better than this or is this his groove ? Oh well, you lose some , you win some.

I've watched a lot of adaptations of Harlen Coben's books, many on Netflix, and have read everything he's written. This is one of the better ones that has been set in Britain.

It has the usual issues in that it's really a story transplanted from America and there are the occasional jarring scenes or bits of dialogue that don't belong in a British thriller, but it does hurtle along and is clearly bingeable having got through it all today.

Michelle Keegan does a good job in the lead role as the tenacious investigating mother although I didn't quite buy into her as a helicopter pilot.

I particularly liked - as I always do - Adeel Akhtar - as the likeable detective, his relationship with his DS was very good and real highlight of the series. Joanna Lumley chewed up scenery with panache and was good at being the particularly unpleasant matriarch.

There's plenty of Coben's trademark misdirection and a plot that keeps you guessing right to the end.

I thought Danya Griver as Abby was excellent and hope we get to see more of her. I do have a big quibble with her accent though. Based and always lived up north in the series, with northern parents, but speaking with a clear southern accent really narked me and was really poor. Same with her brother.

All in all it was an enjoyable romp, clearly preposterous, but all of Harlen's books are and they are always great fun. Definitely would recommend this, especially if you're a fan of his books and other series.

Throughout this unintentionally hilarious mess I kept thinking, what does this acting remind me of?

Then it hit me, the tone, delivery and mannerisms were conjuring up something from some dark recesses of my mind.

Tracy Beaker ! It feels like a surreal and violent episode of Tracy Beaker. After this realisation I really started to enjoy the show, not as the creators intended, but as a farcical camp comedy laced with atrocious acting, dialogue and casting.

Keegans character pushes the boundaries of believability to the furthest it can go, an ex military hardass, despite weighing about 8 stone and being half the height of the men she throws about.

Truly awful entertainment for an audience of imbeciles.

Good fun though !

I have to write because it seems that only people who dislike this series take the trouble to come to IMDb and register their opinion.

This mini TV series is very well executed. My compliments to the entire cast who did a great job. I found actors here being very talented and competent, even those with minor roles. I didn't know those British actors except Joanna.

The plot is full of twists and I really didn't expect the final, very surprising.

Maybe one minor thing here and there which is not properly explained. One think that bothers me a little bit is the characters constantly withholding information from each other, everyone with their own secrets - after a while it gets a bit too much.

But I give a 7 to this entertaining series which came as a good surprise specially in the work done by its cast and the little details inserted in the story line related to how characters interact with each other in daily life which was pretty sharp. I recommend.