Il était une fois sur la nationale 1

If you like dry humor there are some funny moments, but it can't make up for the terribly unlikeable characters. Most of the people you'll be following are consistently annoying, I ended up liking the robber they accidentally switch cars with more than most of the main characters. The concept of the show is good, and again, some of the comedic parts do land, but I nearly stopped watching after only the first episode. The reason I continued was because they're short 30 minutes episodes and I thought maybe the characters would grow on me. By the end of the series I was more than ready for it to be over, however.

As this Polish series opens a man, who appears to be injured, robs a bank. We then see single father Leon and his daughter Dianka; she has been in trouble at school and suddenly announces she is pregnant... he decides they will go to the Czech Republic, where she can get a legal abortion. To help pay for the trip they take two passengers with them. They stop off at a petrol station shortly before the robber arrives in an identical car. A mix-up leaves the group setting off in the wrong car... should they return to the garage or keep the two million zloty they find in the boot? As the series progresses we learn more about the characters' backstories through flashbacks.

I thought this was rather fun. With only six half hour episodes it certainly doesn't outstay its welcome. The concept is simple enough and provides plenty of laughs as well as drama. The humour can be somewhat dark in tone; early on Dianka enjoys telling the passengers that her father is planning to murder them. There is some violence, this includes some that is mildly disturbing; there is also some sex and nudity. The cast does a solid job throughout. Overall a fun little series that I'd recommend... if you don't enjoy it you won't waste much time.

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

1. The dubbing is bad and inconsistent. The emotions needed for the scene are not correctly convened by the 'dubber'.

2. No one is likable or even redeemable. Hard to get engaged with a series when you do not care what happens to any of them.. One of the main characters is so completely unlikable that it makes it hard to watch every time they were in the scene. Each actor is portraying a 'caricature' instead of a character. There are some laughs, but by the time you get to a laugh, you have groaned multiple times.

3. Character development...the series does a one minute introduction to each character and jumps into story. This makes it hard to understand or gauge each person' motivations.

4. The writing is all over the place. There is very little actual conversations with every one quipping one-liners.

5. Tone. The series is not funny enough to be a comedy, too slapstick to be a drama so you are stuck waiting for a laugh, or enduring 'dramatic' moments that do not contain tension.

MAIN

First off: The English language closed captioning is both terrible and inconsistent. The story itself is inconsistent as it might be a drama or maybe a comedy, there are elements of both; though with the bad acting, captioning and pacing it's hard to tell for sure in what direction the director was headed.

The characters are all screw-ups and none of them is even remotely likeable. As far as personality types they cover the entire spectrum.

Both my wife and myself are not sure just how, in this modern day and age, it could even be possible to mistake one's own automobile for that of another's; let alone access it with the wrong key fob.

Great show through and through.

For one, all the technical elements are pretty spot on. Each shot is colorful and special, conveying an interesting and consistent visual narrative. Although I should mention that there's some weird editing. (especially in ep5) The characters are fun, nuanced, and sympathetic (besides klara, klara sucks) and the acting is great.

The story is fun and self contained. I love how they can keep the entire story in pretty much one day. The comedy is on point and the twists/drama almost better.

Big shoutout to Michal Sikorskis character, Wojtek, who provides a soft, weird, funny character evoking his signature style much like his role as Jakub in 1670.

Great show, don't watch the dub.