tomas-pruzina

Tl;dr: This might be one of the best depictions of Orwellian nature of corrupted government. The story paints the interesting picture of communism, nationalism and rebellion in their dark, deeply flawed natures. If that sounds like it might interest you, give it a try.

I loved: Excellent acting in main roles as well as their character development as the story progressed. Scenic design was awesome, lots of right angles and concrete and glass, typical of commie Europe. The story takes bunch of left turns along the way, develops on multiple fronts and keeps you guessing. Have anyone told me this was based on Tom Clancy's novel - I would have believed it.

I disliked: Plot is organically developing in discovery and further complicated by two timelines (83/03) which makes it hard to follow. Dialogues seem to lose something in translation at times, which isn't uncommon in foreign cinematography but makes me wonder who did Netflix target by this show.

Unlike Clancy books (or even movies), this show lacks the thing that make his books - nuance. The show struggles to get the basics right, never mind the details - people don't die instantly after abdomen shots in real life, noise suppressors don't make pew-pew noise, agents handle their firearms proficiently and actually clear the building, plans go wrong - baddies and good guys constantly readjust. If you have ever read any of Clancy's books, you get the picture.

The only thing that scripts have in common with books/movies are multiple separate story lines that ultimately merge together, but somehow they feel like pieces of different shows merged together, instead of helping the viewer piece main story together. At no point did I feel like I couldn't see exactly what is going to happen next. Whole CIA office subplot is a mere content filler, it needs not to be there, it serves no purpose and (mild spoiler alert) it gets thrown to the garbage in closing minute of S01.

Krasinsky (Jack) is a decent, but unexceptional actor. He has his moments, then there are some fairly dull ones. There is virtually zero chemistry between him and Cornish (Cathy, love interest), all of their scenes feel forced and nonsensical. Pierce plays _his_ role as well as you would expect, if you have ever seen him play in any series, you know exactly what to expect.

If you are a fan of Tom Clancy, do yourself a favor and skip this one. I'm actually giving this 6 star rating because that is probably where this show should be, even though I can see how Tom Clancy fans are disappointed tremendously with this.

It's a _fictional_ spy thriller with decent acting and captivating, multi layered story. If you like these movies (Green Zone, Body of Lies, ...) you are gonna like this one.

If you like to get offended over Hollywood's insensitive portrayal of Lebanon history, whitewashing and that kind of stuff, you will love (to hate) this movie as well.