Safe Harbor

When I saw the cast and subject matter of this series I had high expectations. Normally I love Colm Meaney, Charlie Murphy, Jack Gleeson and Alfie Allen in gritty dramas. There were some other good actors that I thought would add to it especially Martijn Lakemeier. The plot was somewhat plausible but the characters were never credible as hardened violent organized criminals, apart from Jack Gleeson who delivered in a few scenes as a psychotic entitled brat trying to prove he's is a tough guy.

When compared to Love Hate, Kin or even Hidden Assets, this series with a great cast and good locations could, and should have been so much better.

Apart from the silly and not credible gun fights, this Series is very good and underrated. The script is the among the very best I have experienced. The combination of English mixed with Dutch is just how the Dutch speak in reality, most of them speak better English than the English. The real harbour scenes are great and the story plausible in today's world. I would watch another show from the same producers and directors. The only acting problem is that Jack Glesson (IMO) is completely miscast as an Irish gang heavyweight. The rest of the cast are top notch though. The clever script is the real winner here though.

This one could have been whittled down to 4 or 5 episodes.

I was delighted it was featured and filmed in Rotterdam having stayed for awhile in Den Haag and working at a mates house in Rotterdam.

I don't even know why they spoke Dutch in the film with subs. The rest being in English. Not once did I here and see 'Hej' which means hey or 'Hoi' that means Hi in Dutch. My mates in Den Haag mostly spoke English sounding like a British accent or what would be a Dutch English or semi Swedish/Danish to me (being a North American). Funny thing, the only time I spoke Dutch was asking a couple ''Spreek je Engels?'' meaning do you speak English? Turned out they were Americans! So speaking of, I had to double check on a couple or a few characters that sounded North American in the series (Sloan, Rod the Dad, Jolie...) but they weren't Americans so I was confused here. The American accent I heard in the Netherlands was from Americans proper. So I question the accuracy...A lot of films do this. Make the Romans sound British...Turn Europeans into American sounding actors. A shame really. Some good action scenes in this one but sub par right now like 'Mobland'. 5 stars for me. See/hear what you think.

Having seen the cast, I was definitely expecting something along the lines of the excellent "Love Hate" or "Kin".

Make no mistake, this is nothing like that.

This not an Irish show, this is a decidedly Dutch show but with Irish actors.

In general the cast and acting are good. However there is one massive error. Casting the effete Joffrey from Game Of Thrones as an Irish Gangster is laughable. As if he wasn't bad enough, the director decided to give him a dodgy looking wig and a joke moustache, that makes him look like an '80's SAS wannabe.

I was hoping for more from Mrs Doyle too.

Charlie Murphy was however brilliant as usual.

I had to stop watching after just 20 minutes - this show is nearly unwatchable. The script feels extremely unnatural, with dialogue that comes across as forced and artificial. Every scene is filled with cringe-worthy moments that make you wonder how this ever made it past the development stage. Jack Gleeson's appearance, particularly his distracting and poorly styled wig, is almost comical and takes you completely out of any scene he's in. The costume department clearly made some questionable choices here that undermine any attempt at creating a believable character.

The whole production feels amateurish and poorly executed, from the wooden acting to the unconvincing character interactions. It's disappointing to see such potential wasted on what appears to be a rushed and poorly thought-out production. The writing team seems to have forgotten that natural dialogue and character development are essential elements of good storytelling. I wanted to give this show a fair chance, but 20 minutes was all I could endure before having to turn it off. Save yourself the time and watch something else instead.

1/10.