Paranoid

Paranoid is a Brit crime drama that follows the "classic formula" whilst adding in a twist, in the form of an international conspiracy.

Its hard to fault British crime series. They really set the standard for both realism and intrigue. This series is, for the most part, no different.

The story is engaging and interesting, readily capturing and holding your attention. The characters too, are rendered as real, flawed and oftentimes, fragile people.

Perhaps my only criticism is the pace of this series sometimes flounders and I felt some characters were a little redundant. In particular, the young detectives neurotic,controlling mother seems like a pointless addition.

All in all, still a worthwhile watch. Seven out of ten from me.

This felt more like a suspenseful but cozy Inspector Lynley mystery than the newer generation of atmospheric Netflix thrillers.

Reason being there's several really interesting and well-fleshed out characters, whose decisions and actions (many of which are relationship driven) all make sense given their characterization and circumstances. Everything felt on a human level, except the ultimate source of the series' crime - which remains unresolved at the end of the season.

In the newer Netflux Crime thrillers like the Fall, the characters can be so opaque as to make both the crime and the resolution feel a bit hollow. Not so here.

I thought the Bobby Day character was brilliantly acted. Will have to look up the actors name. .

The reviewer who gives one star is misguided. He likes Marcella which i felt was scattergun drivel. This Paranoid show has some soul and some pathos. Plus only 2 episodes in its all very interesting and mysterious and i have no idea where its headed. Don't listen to then reviewer he likes pap clearly. The main characters in this are believable and flawed and the story is believable enough to swallow. I say the actors are good and are a good mix that work well together. Its also not eerily dark tones which is all the rage these days and was good for a show or two but now is pretentious and annoying. Anyway i like it and it has enough mix of plot, storyline and character unrevealing to keep me going.

The premise and build-up of suspense are great - I had to keep watching to find out how it all happened. The case wraps up a bit too quickly in the final episode, leaving some unanswered questions, but on the whole the plot is really good.

Unfortunately, most of the characters are neurotic and not particularly likeable. The main character, Nina, comes across as whiny, mean, immature, and unpleasant to be around. She talks a lot about breasts for some unexplained reason. Lucy fluctuates between creepy and condescending. Bobby is a very unprofessional detective, which makes for some great dramatic scenes, but can be a bit frustrating to watch at times. The show focuses too much on their romantic relationships, which become more melodramatic as the series goes on. I wish they stuck to their strong suit, the mystery and drama of the case.

As a side note, the police's interrogation skills on this show are remarkably weak. Most of their interviews with suspects go something like this: "Tell us what you know." "I don't know anything." "Well alright then. You can go now because we have no evidence. Have a nice day."

Dreadful script, some really clunky lines, especially for poor Nina. The excellent actors did their best with it. Chris Crowley was superbly creepy and I loved the German duo but the wonderful Indira Varma's character was unnecessarily annoying. Denis looked like a superb character but never got the chance to get his teeth into anything.

It didn't quite know whether it was a thriller or a comedy or a romance - bit of a hodgepodge of everything.

While the story had me hooked until the end, it didn't feel satisfyingly tied up. Unexplained bits and unnecessary bits and just plain annoying bits.

So it was pretty awful, but enjoyably so.