Zasada przyjemnosci

I really enjoyed this series. Yes, the story is complex and I highly recommend to put your smartphone away while watching. We are following the three different detectives literally from lead to lead until the case is solved. A lot of nicely written plot twists happen and only a few of the seem a little forced. The story shows real people in a credible environment acting in plausible ways and yet it keeps you at the edge of your sofa because the photography and the music create a fascinating feeling. The acting is great, especially the main character Maria is portraited beautifully in all her ambiguity by Malgorzata Buczkowska.

An exotic thriller in four languages (Polish, Ukrainian, Czech and English). Beautifully photographed and a with stunning musical score.

It took a while to get into and be warned it contains a lot of violence, nudity and sex. Far more than your average US or UK thriller.

I found the story a bit complex to follow but I liked the characters.

Worth a look.

This depicts a reality that stunted anglocentrics will find confusing, many of whom forget that most people don't have English as a first language and that most people have "an accent" when they speak our tongue. If nothing else, it's such a relief to hear and see how all those non-anglophones, a majority of the world's population, communicate and solve problems, resorting occasionally to English ("with an accent" -of course and 110% better than my Czech!- ) as a llngua franca. This is part of the reality in the drama. To dub it all or to put it all in one language, or with references to only of the three national cultures involved, with their different histories, different policing issues, etc., might make it more palatable to US-Americans used the cultural babyfood of Hollywood but it would totally deny what the story is all about.

Well, so many different venues, vast areas, the cast representing Slavs mostly, but still with different attitudes (Ukraine vs. EU, above all). And it budget was not too generous, I suppose... The outcome is a rather suspense thriller series, with interesting main theme, plus some by-lines pleasantly confusing (well, sometimes too excessively, but this is not a big issue). The final outcome could have been more sophisticated, but then - realism is also a good quality vis-a-vis crime series.

The performers are all good and pleasant as well, knowing how to be in teamwork (although many of them are big stars in their countries and even internationally known, e.g. Karel Roden). The latter and Malgorzata Buczkowska were the ones excelling for me a bit, but as mentioned - it is a pleasant cooperation of 4 Central-European countries.

I have read that Season 2 might follow - please count me in as a part of audience then :)

I watched to the end but didn't really enjoy the series. Terrible dialogue and accents ruined it for me and the plot was hard to follow.

Time again I wouldn't bother.