Durham County

The plot of Durham County is one of those that will leave you scratching your head in confusion and frustration at times. It has a very quirky, off beat sense to it and it's hard to compare against a benchmark. At times it feels as though the writers of Twin Peaks got together on a lazy Sunday afternoon, put their heads together and came up with the plot for Durham County.

One thing about the series is that it's weird and puzzling and you can see that right from the first minute. Thankfully there are only 6 episodes because by the end of the last episode I was ready to punch my sofa cushion in frustration.

There are ups and downs to the series and it leans slightly more towards the downside a little. The upside is that it is short and for the most part does not succumb to anything typical. That makes it unique. There are no good guys here- just bad, badder and worse. The writers blur the lines neatly between the heroes and the villains, leaving it up to the viewer to decide if the character is good or bad. Acting is quite good by all the principal characters, helping to bring out a variety of emotions from the viewer's point. The downside is that the ending is not satisfying enough and leaves you wondering if it was worth watching in the first place. The plot does stumble around a bit and could have used some tightening.

All in all it starts out well but starts to lag in the third episode onwards leading to a disappointing finish.

I was really enjoying this series, detailed non obvious crime drama with a great visual flare and above all an interesting and believable script, till the 5th episode and then it seemed to change unexplainedly. Suddenly the actors were saying and doing things which seemed contrived and out of character. Suddenly we get these groaner moments that defy belief in the situation and importantly the characters. and if you check the director in the IMDb its that the director changes for episode 5 onward.

in the second series it made the jump to completely implausible and in a tense crime drama you can't have that. Ray, a mentally unstable patient awaiting trial on murder and rape charges is allowed to wander around in a large room un monitored and to interact with one of his victims??? who came up with that piece of fantasy?

kinda disappointing after such a strong start, interesting characters and intriguing script.

Durham County is a fantastic show. I can't wait for it each week to find out what's going to happen to Ray, Mike and the rest of the characters. The cinematography is brilliant, acting phenomenal, and directing amazing.

Right from the black and white with splashes of red opening shots, through each episode and to the final credits, I'm riveted by this show. It rivals some of the best TV dramatic series out there: Six Feet Under, the Sopranos, etc.

Kudos to the producers for getting this top-notch show on the air. Looking forward to the next season.

Marianne

I agree with your first reviewer who says that lines get blurred between good and evil characters. But that is what makes season 1 so interesting to me. The cop is a hot head and so is the real villain played by Louis. Season 2 picks up where season 1 leaves off, but since a different production company was involved, they chose to turn the series from an R-rated adult crime drama to a family-oriented G-rated soap opera complete with G-rated language. In fact, season 2 is mostly talk. I had to bale out of this one. Don't even know if they used the same actor for the part of "Ray". Way to screw up a captivating storyline. I give season 1 an 8 but had to downgrade overall since season 2 screwed it up so badly.

This show combines the best of British and American drama but with a distinctive Canadian flavor which clinches the deal. The actors are not pin ups but play their parts with genuine emotion.

Cinematography is spot on and the scripts and re-enactments done with chilling realism.Music selection is appropriate and the sound quality is superior to most network shows.

The only negative point if you can call it that will be the relatively short season for Series one which will rely on the overall market appeal in North America as to its continuation next season.

Not to be missed!