Rocco Schiavone

An excellent series....best I've seen in a long time....give it a chance and you'll be hooked

I loved this series. I binge-watched it. Rocco was such an interesting character, philosophical and sexy. I think it was the first Italian series I've watched.

Funny, touching, good stories with great characters: American cop shows could take lessons from Rocco!

These comments are based on watching the first season in Italian with English subtitles.

Protagonist Rocco Schiavone is a cop from Rome who has been demoted and sent to the alpine town Aosta; he hates the mountains, he hates the cold and he hates most of his new colleagues. As the series starts he is in a relationship but it is clear that the only woman he truly loves is his late wife. He also smokes cannabis, in the office and isn't above a little breaking and entry to obtain evidence! Other regular characters included younger officer Italo Pierron, who Rocco usually works with; the competent Caterina Rispoli and Michele Deruta and Domenico D'Intino, a duo dubbed 'Laurel and Hardy' by Rocco thanks to their infuriating behaviour. Each episode contains a self-contained murder mystery, which often forces Rocco to head into the mountains he so dislikes after a few episodes longer plot arcs start to emerge with cases being linked and Rocco being in considerable danger.

I really enjoyed this series; each mystery is intriguing in its own way but it is the characters that make it such fun, once the longer plot arc begins the tension rises nicely. Marco Giallini is great as Rocco; a grumpy character could so easily be unlikable but he makes the character easy to like. The rest of the cast are impressive too. I can see why this series is compared to earlier Italian export 'Inspector Montalbano'; there are many similarities, with scenic alpine settings replacing the scenic Sicilian settings and some character similarities; however it doesn't feel like a copy of that show. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to fans of subtitled crime drama or those who understand Italian. I hope we don't have to wait too long for more seasons to be released in the UK; I need to know what happens next.

After watching season 1, I can't help but compare it to the series "Montalbano" and "Young Montalbano". Quirky lead characters are fine, but Rocco who continually talks with his dead wife which is morbid, smokes pot in the office and doesn't carry a firearm, makes it hard to believe. Writers love characters who go after the system, go out to avenge a wrong against them and skirt all the rules, but that's not real life it's fantasy. In real life employers weed out problem employees especially ones that act like vigilantes, they are a huge political and financial liability. In real life Schiavone would probably have been retired instead of transferring him to Aosta.

The location is beautiful, the Aosta Valley in the Italian Alps north of Turin. I laughed when his buddies thought he was being sent to Ostia, which is west of Rome on the Mediterranean. I like his odd team, especially Italo who can't stand the sight of blood.

Andrea Camilleri's Montalbano series is safe, this one is good but Camilleri's stories are better. Marco Gaillini is a good actor as are the others. I watched the full 5 seasons and since Montalbano ended it's the only Italian series. They're filming a 6th season.