Desaparecido Para Sempre

An ok attempt at drama and intrigue but filled with unrelateable, unlikeable characters. The story way too complex and try-hard. Setting is great in Nice.

Far too many contrived relationships and situations. I haven't read the book but I would guess that it is 100x better than this series.

That said, an ok diversion in times of Covid.

Disparu À Jamais (or Gone For Good for the English title is a French mini-series (five episodes) based on a novel from Harlan Coben. The last series I watched based on a novel from Harlan Coben was the German series The Woods, another one that was worth watching. Sometimes his stories are a bit far fetched, with all kind of characters that know each other, when the chances that that would happen in real life are pretty slim. So was it also in Disparu À Jamais. Nevertheless the episodes are full of mysteries which keeps you guessing and interested. Decent acting from the entire cast, although some were better than others. It's not always easy to follow so you have to be concentrated. A good mini-series that you can finish in a couple days.

I don't know why there are so many bad reviews! The series is a very good crime and mystery thriller. The actors did their part very well. Harlen Kobens The Innocent is my most favourite and now this one is my second favourite! Mystery lovers should give it a try!

There was so much going on, that it was difficult to understand who was the titular "gone for good". Corben's melodramatic plotting that originally took place in New Jersey fits poorly with heavy-handed social commentary on French immigrants, social work, Neo-nazism and whatever else thrown into the mixer, all struggling to advance the story and drifting the focus away from it.

Casting is another problem. Finnegan Oldfield in the lead is stuck with one expression on his face, and his chemistry with Nailia Harzoune doesn't register at all. The only standout is Guillaume Gouix but that only makes things worse as his storyline is an unrelated add-on to fill in the runtime.

Towards the end, the plot becomes increasingly jarring and haphazard. Then it all crawls to a lazy wrap-up, with not much feeling for the surviving cast members that pretend everything was solved.

The thing with Harlan Coben stories is they always have a lot going on. You've got your main plot and several other subplots going on. This one didn't have as many subplots, as everything going on was all connected. With all of HC's work you get thrown a lot of information in the beginning which can often be confusing, but everything is alway explained at the end. Apart from The Woods, I've thoroughly enjoyed the Netflix adaptations of HC's novels. (Including the SKY production of The Five which he created). However, Gone For Good has not gone down well with me. It actually started out quite similar to The Innocent (which was fantastic), and there were a few surprises here and there and so I thought it was bound to have this shocking, massive twist at the end, however halfway through the show it started to go downhill and by the end the 'reveal' wasn't really a surprise. I've not read the book and so I cannot make comparisons but the show for me was a huge letdown. Unlike the other shows I've seen, this one became a bit predictable. I was disappointed with it, nevertheless I will continue to watch as Netflix continue to produce HC's novels. 5 down, 9 more to go! Looking forward to Stay Close which hopefully premieres on Netflix later this year.