nicholas-610-899841's reviews

I can deal with actors using other accents. Plenty have done it from both sides of the Atlantic, playing a part from the other side.

But I find the American pronunciation of Moscow - Cow, as in the animal rather than Co as in co-pay - somewhat grating. It's a similar thing with Eye-Rack and Eye-Ran.

Nevertheless, I can just about take it because I know that's how they like to mangle it.

But for Jodie Whittaker to pronounce it that way? Well I just found it too much to take and I couldn't watch anymore.

The home life aspect just didn't seem right either but it was that accent and the Moscow pronunciation that killed it dead.

I'll admit this is a strange review.

I have no problem watching anything with subtitles. Usually it's foreign made which means different scenery, different culture, different procedures when it comes to cop shows/legal stuff and that makes it additionally interesting.

So I start watching and there are long scenes involving a computer screen which is mostly white and the subtitles are, you guessed it, white.

But that's not all.

I'm used to seeing some movies or tv where because of the opening titles being near the bottom of the screen, any subtitles for dialogue are at the top. Similar if there 's a document or something lower down, those responsible for the subtitles have been aware and placed them near the top.

But this? For no obvious reason the subtitles would be at the top, then the bottom and then the top again.

It just wasn't comfortable having to focus them chopping and changing all the time. The character also spoke so fast that when I was able to focus on them, they'd disappear before I could read them.

So against better judgment I tried the dubbed version. The voices were similar so at least that wasn't too bad but, sorry, if the mouth movements are not even close - and we had close ups of faces so it couldn't be avoided - then I can't watch.

For something Netflix produced I'd expect something better.

This is an excellent mini-series following French security services after terrorist attacks in Paris and Nice.

It's like a stand alone story from the brilliant French show The Bureau of Legends and a nice companion piece to the similar Spanish show La Unidad.

Unlike other shows and movies we're not seeing anyone actually under cover - with their legend - and there's little in the way of action, although there is some.

There are a couple of stakeouts and one character repeatedly flying off to other locations but mostly it's meetings and politics with a small p, and various agents carrying out their investigations and contacting their 'assets' for help.

Tension is maintained. The episodes are just short of an hour and whizzed by.

When I started this I was wondering if I would need to suspend disbelief to carry on watching.

But then I remembered real life with airplanes suicidally and murderously being flown into buildings; Embassy staff enticing a journalist into their embassy under a false pretext, killing him and then cutting his body up for disposal; Russian agents travelling to other countries (claiming a cathedral visit) to poison others; undercover agents having relationships and children with deceived women, Indian agents assassinating people in Canada and so on.

Not to mention all the other tit-for tat actions between China and just about everyone else.

In the context of real life, the storyline in this show doesn't seem far fetched at all.

Just enjoy it like The Capture was enjoyable.

Best spy/political (small p) intrigue I've seen since The Bureau. A thoroughly enjoyable watch if you don't mind waiting a bit for answers.

I loved the dance/shootout scene in the opening episode of season 2. The use of the music and the gun drama was straight out of Breaking Bad.

Any reviews where someone complains of "wokery" with repeated use of the word that has been hijacked by right wing morons just make me want to pay more attention than I otherwise would.

So thanks to the various phobes for bringing it to my attention.

"Laughable. Watching characters using DOS-based systems and dial-up modems must be quite bizarre for anyone used to today's smartphone and nano technology" Wow.

Just imagine watching a movie taking place before electric kettles boiled water more quickly than a pot on a stove; or when people rode a horse and cart; or when people had...gasp...a phone at home that went ring-ring.

Get some maturity with your age.

If dubbing spoils your viewing then take a subtitled option. If something is any good you soon forget whether you've been reading and it comes naturally.

Don't understand the 'bad acting' comments. I've seen many Nordic/Scandi shows and I need the subtitles. Perhaps it's hard to judge properly but the voices have all the right tones and pitch for the lines I'm reading and the on screen events at the time.

If it's bad acting then all of those shows would be full of bad acting.

I did think that when the lead character was speaking English it didn't sound quite right, but that could just be because it was a second - or third - language.

This is an area of few people, few resources, old fashioned attitudes and so on. I think people are mistaking the characters and their attitudes for bad acting.

I think what other reviewers are saying is that the first Rebecka was a 'babe' the new one is less so ;)

I was quite taken aback as I watched S2 immediately after S1 and with a more usual gap it might have been easier.

I was ready to give up but I gave it a go and by part two of the first story it didn't make any difference to me.

What surprised me more was the appearance of von Post as I could have sworn that after his interrogation led to a suicide in S1, the team said he was gone.

I was also surprised to see Kari Sorjonen still moonlighting as a pathologist ;)