Clean Sweep

This is an excellent drama series that starts slow and builds. And then builds again. I rarely have any expectations before I watch any new drama series as this can open one to disappointment. So I kept an open mind. And can safely say that I was completely engrossed from start to finish. The acting was on-point throughout with a superb and commanding performance from the lead actress, Charlene McKenna: this is HOW you act! The direction was very clever but please be patient - it is like pieces of a jigsaw that comes together at the end. The script too was extremely well-written and easily passes the test of believability.

But it is the very final scene between the lead actress and her detective husband that brought in equal measure a smile and tear to my eye that copperfastened for me, how a proper drama should be made.

I highly recommend. Enjoy!

Great to see a clever drama set in Ireland. Quality direction and acting. It was slow to start and episode one was probably the worst of the episodes but once the different layers of the drama and the interweaving stories start to reveal it becomes very good television.

I cannot understand the negative reviews of the main Irish newspapers, the critics seem to be looking for Scandinavian noir or an art house production. This is none of those things, it is a detective series with a family drama overlap, it is a difficult thing to marry but for all the occasional incoherences I think it works very effectively.

Shelly Mohan appears to be an ordinary house wife living in Wicklow. She is married to Jason, a sergeant in the Garda, and has three children; Derek, Caitlin and youngest Naill, who suffers from cystic fibrosis. It soon becomes apparent that she has a past none of her family know about. She is approached by a man in a car park who calls her Maggie. Later she goes to meet him at his hotel. It is clear that they were previously involved in something illegal. He has 'found Jesus' and believes both of them must come clean... she doesn't and shoots him! Life is about to get very complicated as her husband is given the job of finding the killer while she tries to carry on as normal. If that weren't enough there are plenty of ordinary family issues to deal with.

If you enjoy crime dramas and are looking for something a little different you could do a lot worse than this. There may not be a mystery concerning the identity of the killer but there are plenty of intriguing questions; most obviously concerning Shelly's past. Sometimes 'personal problems' can detract from a drama but here their serve to emphasise Shelly's apparently ordinary life... a life she will kill to protect. The cast is solid; most obviously Charlene McKenna who really impresses as Shelly. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to people looking for a new six-part crime drama who want something a little different.

I've given it a 5, which feels about right. The production values are good, likewise the cinematography. And there's just enough content to keep the viewer engaged. Only just, though.

Essentially, this is a prime example of a Netflix serial that's been over-extended, and thereby stretched thin and a bit see-through. Four episodes, maybe even three, would have been enough. There's far too much drag in each episode, sub-plots that don't really add anything, and not really too much of a story to begin with. Also, the budgetary constraints imposed from having to fill six episodes were, to my mind, reflected in the choice of cast. The lead actor aside - she gave an excellent performance - most of the other performances were so-so, a bit second-rate, and in one particular case laughably awful (the London DI). Maybe, though - to give the actors their due - it could also be down to the fact that most of the characters were flat, cardboard-cut-out, cliched and under-developed. This is down to the writer.

As I said in the title... it's okay if you've exhausted all other options. Don't expect anything you haven't seen a dozen times before, though.

I think there is some hometown cringe going on. I thought it was a very good show with a complex plot and complex family relationships .I thought the main character was excellent. We grew to know and love her and her children. We were invited into a real family, doing believable things. I cared for the characters.

Dealing with cystic fibrosis without grandstanding it, just quietly demonstrating the work required was noble and nowhere were issues overstated.

For me not living in Ireland, the scenery and different way of doing things deepens interest. The intertwining of the past and present keep the tension at a fairly high level. At several points when you feel the crime is about to be solved, they wriggle out of it but always in a believable way, easing the tension momentarily but not for long.

Did think it ended without a real resolution but I thought that was because a second series was planned. Is this not so?