Vite in fuga

Vite in fuga AKA Off Grid This could have been a good 6 part psychological thriller, but after a good start it faded badly.

Episode 4 was a gratuitous "inclusive" episode for same sex relationships. It could have been missed altogether and none of the core plot would be missed.

Episodes 6-11 was just plain padded out waffle. Just boring soap.

There was no explanation as to how Cosimo Casiraghi could effect all the things that he did, passports, IDs, jobs, etc, etc, or how Miranda would have gone along with her coldblooded father-in-law.

It was just too long.

The Italian scenery was good, Claudio Gioè's acting was bad or should I say overacting.

This is a contemporary drama and contains language and/or attitudes that some viewers, particularly those of a more mature generation, the Silent Majority, will find offensive.

I came across this series purely by chance and I am so glad I dId.

This was part of Walter Presents on Channel 4 in the UK. Usually anything coming under the Walter bracket is well worth watching.

The plot is very plausible, the acting is excellent and the scenery is beautiful. If that has been filmed in the South Tyrol then I would be more than happy to live there, stunning scenery.

I only started watching this on Tuesday and I am already two thirds through the series. It has a sort of hypnotic hold over you. Even this morning before coming to work I watched 1.5 episodes and will no doubt watch more this evening. In fact I will be disappointed when the series comes to an end.

I still don't know how this is going to end but I will certainly enjoy finding out.

Oh did I mention how stunningly attractive, Anna Valle is as the female lead.

This drama, in Italian with subtitles, starts off very well. The first episode sets up an intriguing scenario, with a mysterious death and the main suspect and his family having to go into hiding.

Unfortunately the interest is not maintained. By the time we get to episodes 3, 4 and 5, almost all of the show is about the various relationships inside and outside the family, while the main story proceeds at a glacial pace. At times, you almost feel like you're watching a soap.

The acting is good, not just the two main characters but their children as well. And there's some great scenery of the Italian Dolomite mountains.

Six episodes would have been good, but fourteen?

A family escapes death threats and hides out. Then they take turns doing something stupid to endanger themselves. If you accept the plot then ride with it. The scenery is great, the acting is good, the police procedurals are lousy, the motives of the bad guys is typically Italian- emotion over reason- but it's entertaining and never slow.

I tried to guess the ending when the plot did a flip but but I was way off, the last two episodes certainly jump the shark, but hey it's an Italian shark.

My favorite character was the blond detective who is always right but can't get her male boss and partner to listen.

As this Italian series opens a woman is arrested in a remote mountain town; she has been living under an assumed name. As she is questioned by the police we flash back six months...

Her husband Claudio Caruana is on the board of a bank in Rome that has been accused of corruption. One evening he tells his wife he is seeing a colleague, when in fact he is seeing his mistress... this proves very awkward when the colleague is murdered and he appears on the CCTV. Fearing he is about to be arrested he contacts a man who will help him and his wife, son and daughter disappear. They must trade their old lives in Rome for a new life in the Italian Tyrol under new names. For how long will they be able to give up their old lives? One police officer in particular is determined to find Claudio even after evidence suggesting the family died while trying to flee the country emerges.

I thought this was a solid series. The opening serves to grab the viewers' attention; we may know that one of the family has been arrested but it is far from obvious whether others have been caught and the question of how she came to be where she is is interesting. Inevitably the family get into some fairly melodramatic problems each episode which threaten to expose them. Of course such problems are needed to keep the story interesting for twelve episodes. The cast do a fine job making their characters believable and the beautiful Tyrolian scenery makes the outdoor scenes look stunning. Without giving anything away I found the ending to be solid as it nicely wraps things up without the need to set things up for unnecessary further seasons. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to fans of Euro-drama.

These comments are based on watching the series in Italian with English subtitles.