Braquo

"Braquo" is an entertaining and gripping Police TV Series. It is the story of a group of Parisian cops who deal with tough criminals with controversial methods. They often can be confused with criminals for their way of dealing with delicate situations, and they don't hesitate to kill people who can harm them physically or who can damage their status as Policemen. The main characters, the cops Eddy, Roxane, Theo and Walter, who are big friends, get in trouble very easily because of their borderline styles of life (Theo is a cocaine addict, Walter a restless gambler), and they always finish dragging the others in their own problems. They also always have to fight against their superiors who want to kick them out of the Police force. I watched both series and I can say that the second one is much more interesting because it has a quick pace and a very complex plot that involves former military men, ministers and ruthless criminals. The adjective I would use to describe this series is "tough" since there are many brutal scenes. A flaw or, If you want, a bizarre feature of the series is some unrealistic scenes: the police headquarters looks like a damp garage and the group of the 4 cops have a kind of bar inside the police station. However I think "Braquo" is a well done series even if I like "Engrenages" better.

Take " The Shield" and amp it up by swearing more, having more violence, and way more sex, et voila! Well not quite. In Braquo the dialog has a male macho Black and White staccato. The action is fervid, and it's this that saves it, because the plot holes are massive. Bring disbelief into viewing it and it becomes comedy, so best thing is to amp up the Lizard brain and bring out the teenager or Trump voter that lurks inside. "How are they going to get out of this" buildups are followed by RUFKM plot twists dreamed up by writers that don't care about the real world of cause and effect. Tortured for days and voila nothing to show for it but some stitches, just to remind us of the torture, juiced to the max by electrical prods and voila able to recover in 5 minutes flat.

This series is definitely one of the best cops/crime series ever, whatever country. It was strange how I completely forgot there were subtitles, it was like a seamless cross-over to French which I do not speak.

Acting by all is superb, especially Jean-Claude Anglade the charismatic head of 4 cops who get the bad guys seemingly through any means possible including the illegal. Interesting shots of a mostly depressing Paris which matches the mood of the numerous high level and low life criminals. Shows complicity of French politics with corrupt cops. Several stories happening at once so tension remains high even when one case is resolved. Creative and unpredictable moves on part of the police and criminal. Not like white-bread formulaic American cops and crime shows.

I watched all four seasons, binge style. I was sad when it was over, can't think of a way to have another season. Too bad, back to the mostly futile search through the scads of crap shows on TV or internet (except of course the truly excellent like Breaking Bad, Please call Saul, Six feet Under, Sopranos.... Renewed hope in me that great drama is not dead.

/refers to Seasons 1-3/ I regard myself as a fan of British and Scandinavian crimes series, but sometimes, for diversity, it is interesting to find out what is going on in other countries. Respective French series were rather unknown to me, but after Engrenages - a pleasant surprise! - I was sure that Braquo would bring along additional pleasant moments.

And I was not mistaken. The series is thrilling, meaty, with versatile characters and performances (particularly Jean-Hugues Anglade as Eddy Caplan and Karole Rocher as Roxane Delgado) with French characteristics and peculiarities caught. There is a thin line between police and criminal actions... well, I am not sure how realistic all this is in an EU/NATO country, but as the activities and comprehensions were motivated and seamlessly depicted, one did not wonder too often.

Well, for me, the Season 3 went a bit onto slippery ground due to post-Soviet mob relations, and those speaking Russian were sometimes not convincing, with terrible accent or mistakes, but still, I am looking forward to the Season 4 already and can easily recommend the Series to all them keen on intensive and effective crime-solving.

PS Season 4 is back on track, nice.

The first season of this classy French crime thriller was quite superb . Excellent story lines , first class acting and great cinematography. It all just felt so real with the dodgy cops trying desperately to keep one step ahead of everyone....crooks , internal affairs and fellow police officers.

Then came along Season 2 and everything changed . The story got quite unbelievable , the actors definitely looked as tho their hearts just weren't in it any more and the basic direction was very lacklustre. The soul had completely gone from Braquo . Its no surprise that the show has now been cancelled.