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[Vultural]

Ms Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries: S01 - 2019 - 6/10



Spinoff / reboot of the Miss Fisher franchise suffers by comparison.
Set decades after Miss Fisher’s adventures, a low born niece inherits her aunt’s mantle.
She has no detective skills, is somewhat of a fish out of water, yet is soon part of the Adventuresses.
A love angle is forced in, yet the leads have no chemistry.
Indeed, the girl who plays Ms Fisher has no presence for the camera whatsoever.
Set in the early 60’s, the “look” and songs feel correct, but I am unsure.  I suspect Australia, like the States, lagged England in fashion, style and creativity at that point.
At four episodes, it might provide a Fisher fix for grieving fans, especially after the Miss Fisher dud movie.

S02 aired in 2021.  This series is padded with three romance angles for our characters.

[Vultural]

Speakerine - 2018 - 6/10



Brief French series set in 1962.
Christine is a broadcasting institution.  She announces upcoming programs.
What she longs for is her own show, a woman’s show.  By women, about women, for women.
An early strike for representation and equality.  Anticipate male resistance.
Into the mix are a budding network alliance between France TV and US networks, terrorist activities from the OAS, family drama, and a large manor house where alpha males entertain underage plaisirs du jour.
Oh, and a malicious, unscrupulous rival bent on shoving Christine from her throne, no matter the means.
Six episodes stitched nicely.

[Vultural]

Omniscient:  S01 - 2020 - 6/10
AKA - Onisciente



Tech series set in near future Rio de Janeiro.
Society has surrendered privacy for security, as fly-sized drones follow citizens everywhere.
Yes, that means bathroom, that means bouncing the sheets.
Nina is a programmer candidate for Onisciente, the massive surveillance firm.
Her father is murdered;  his drone saw nothing.  Actually, because of privacy laws, no footage is available.
His death is ruled an accident.  Afterward, Nina starts digging, hacking into the system.
Much is given over to Nina outsmarting or gaming her ever-present drones.
The tech may be too shaky for engineers, but for those who suspend a lot of disbelief this should be OK.
To my amazement, S01 did resolve and tie up questions, while opening floodgates for S02.
Same creative team made 3%.  I watched S01 of that, never bothered with the others.

[Vultural]

Suite Noire - 2009 - 6/10



Composite rating for anthology series.
Some stories are outstanding, others lackluster.
A vintner, and gourmet, murders his wife because of pathetic cooking skills.
He hires a young girl, and beats excellence from her.
Another individual accidentally kills a trapped car driver.
As he attempts to cover that up, victims mount.



An African girl arrives in France for work, a fresh chance.
The so-called work is of a horizontal nature.
A liberal radio station befriends convicts.
An illustrator experiments with African tribal magic.
The leader of a music group uses his bankrupt father to climb the ladder.
Eight stand-alone installments.  All seedy and pulp influenced.

[Vultural]

X-Company:  S01 - 2015 - 6/10



Allied espionage unit runs missions in Vichy France during World War II.
Though a Canadian series (HQ also based in Canada) the team also contains French, British and Yanks.
Episodic series in the Mission Impossible (TV) vein.  Meaning, the team drops in, does their thing, is extracted.
The Germans grow aware of them, especially of “Alfred” who has a photographic memory.
Indeed, Alfred is a vault of intelligence, which the Nazis value.
Series only runs three seasons, and supposedly delivers closure, though I doubt I’ll stick with it.
The look is slick, acting is professional, but with most WWII shows, I know how history will resolve.

[Vultural]

Sløborn - 2020 - 7/10



Apocalypse fans!
A deadly contagion hits an isolated island in the North Sea.
Actually, the virus (which is incurable) is rampaging planetwide.
When a drifting boat is sighted, locals hurry to investigate.
Teens, a burnt out writer (my fave!), young offenders, several clandestine affairs, investors, conspiracy types.
Seriously, there must be a dozen stories, yet one should be able to keep track of them.
Remember:  more characters = more meals!
The ending suffers logical loopholes, and character arcs are given short shrift.
Who cares!  It’s the end of the world!

[Vultural]

Enemy's Enemy - 1990 - 7/10
AKA - Fiendens Fiende



Excellent adaptation of Jan Guillou’s Carl Hamilton series.
Commander Hamilton, operative for Swedish military intelligence, is accused of being a double agent.
Rivalries between hostile police and protective military are heightened as the foreign service sends Hamilton abroad.
There are a series of small stories within the overall arc.  Location filming includes the Mid-East and Moscow.
Plenty of action, espionage, tentative alliances, and ethical lapses.
This is a spy thriller for adults.
Jan Guillou introduces each episode with a synopsis and insights.
(Guillou, should you look him up, has led an extremely interesting life.)

[Vultural]

Kfulim:  S02 - 2018 - 7/10
AKA - False Flag



One of those rare second seasons that are superior to the first.
This series is slightly longer, with fewer “persons of interest.”
While omnipresent, even the forces of Shin Bet and Mossad, have less screen time.
The focus here is on a terrorist incident designed to disrupt a proposed oil pipeline.
As before, there are lambs offered up a culprits, should investigators want easily solutions,
For thriller fans, espionage buffs, and those who favor densely plotted mysteries.
This is masterfully arranged and executed, though hopefully viewers know a smattering of Mid-East politics and history.

[pixxxie]

On 1/9/2022 at 7:12 AM, Vultural said:

Sløborn - 2020 - 7/10

The second season is available for viewing (vault), but with only google translated ENG subs for now.

[DrWho42]

i saw dogora (1964) last. it was interesting.

[Vultural]

On 1/10/2022 at 11:41 PM, pixxxie said:

The second season is available for Sloborn, but with only google translated ENG subs for now.

By and large I seldom bother with subsequent seasons.  Most are inferior.  Hackwork.

Sløborn is a case in point.  Reviews for S02 have been blistering.  I will pass.  There is so much else to watch.

 

[Vultural]

Bedlam: S02 - 2012 - 6/10



Ellie sees dead people.  She has visions, premonitions, hears voices.
It costs her a paramedic job, and her fiancé drops her because he is as understanding as a fish hook.
So Ellie makes her way to the haunt packed Bedlam Heights, now rebranded Brightmoor.
Why?  Who knows.  Yet she gets to stay there free.  Room and meals, gratis, while she does zip.
Followup to Bedlam S01, has a mostly new cast, is more drama oriented, with fewer kills.
Ellie has a looser grasp of her “gift” than did Jed, and most of the characters are illogical.
Nevertheless, S02 is better written and stitches a decent ending.

[Vultural]

Hell Girl - 2006 - 5/10
AKA - Jigoku Shōjo  //  地獄少女



TV adaptation of popular anime series.
At midnight, seekers of Hell Girl key in her website and one lucky soul is answered.
By and large, all desire revenge, or justice.
Summoned, Hell Girl hands them a wooden fetish with a red ribbon around it.
Untie the ribbon, and your target is ferried immediately to Hell.
Payment – damnation.  Those who untie the ribbon will spend eternity in Hell once they die.
Episodes, without credits, run a scant 20 minutes..
Stories are generic, young actors get their chance, veterans overact, sets are cheap.
Low expectations justified.

[Vultural]

Marianne - 2019 - 6/10



French series tiptoes a thin line between the horror labyrinth and Young Adult.
Enfante terrible, novelist Emma, returns to her small hometown after a harrowing in-store event.
For years she has channeled her demons into best selling novels of a witch.
Only the witch may not be merely her imagination, but a malevolence gathering strength.
Emma is one of the most toxic characters you will likely encounter.
She is also a classic jinx, tainting all within her sphere.
In real life, you would shun her, or she would be a successful politician.
Horrific moments, along with exasperating ones.

[Vultural]

Paranormal - 2020 - 7/10
AKA - ما وراء الطبيعة

Early in life, young Refaat, playing hide and seek, is tempted into a shunned house.
The house is cursed, haunted by a siren, waif sized Shiraz.



While friends and siblings “rescue” Rafeet, the ghost is a tenacious playmate.
That is the arc of this six story series, set in 1960’s Egypt, ruled by Nasser.
Rafeet grows into a troubled, lonely soul, yet admired by those he reluctantly aids.
Like other “touched” souls, he is drawn to darkness, and darkness drawn to him.
Stories are steeped in superstition and myths of Ancient Egypt.
Mummies, tomb guardians, plagues, etc …

[Vultural]

The Head - 2020 - 7/10

Top notch, engrossing thriller, though I am tempted to drop a point.
When the relief team arrives at the Antarctic base, they discover corpses.



And a survivor, shuddering from cold and psychosis.
Episode by episode, the narrative is teased out, death by death - except - the narrator is unreliable.
Additional witnesses are likewise untrustworthy, and, the prime interviewer has an agenda.
In our current era of lies, this is spot on.
My main problem is that the winter team (RIP) would be Weyland-Yutani rejects.
They are psychologically unfit for isolation and close quarters interaction.

[Vultural]

Flower Of Evil - 2020 - 7/10
AKA - Agui Kkot  //  악의 꽃



After their father, exposed as a sadistic serial killer, commits suicide, villagers hound the children.
The son, in particular, is beaten as rumors spread that he carries his father’s DNA.
What does he do?  Changes his name, marries a female cop, lives quietly for several years.
Until scandal media decide to revisit and unearth the forgotten story.
Gripping thriller is expertly plotted with taut cliffhangers, opening flashbacks, hairpin twists.
Throughout, narrative track is laid out, an impressive amount of new material.
Alas, as with too many K-dramas, the ending stumbles.  The furious pace slacks, the fire is quenched.

[Vultural]

Dead Nature - 2018 - 6/10
AKA - Natureza Morta



It’s almost embarrassing, the way females throw themselves at him.
Then again, Tim is a high end fashion photographer.
Too bad those gorgeous specimens don’t know he is a murderous sociopath.
Blame a troubled childhood, deep in the swamps, tangled like rusty barbed wire.
Tim’s camera eye, captures again and again, the juxtaposition of beauty amidst death and decay.
Secondary story follows Pitbull, a scruffy detective with a pitbull’s IQ.
The look of this Brazilian series is flat and cheap, like a telenovela.

[Vultural]

Romulus - 2020 - 6/10

Boldly imaginative take on the founders of Rome.
Note.  This is pre-Rome.  No coliseums, no columns.  Straw huts and animal skins.



Straight off, I was baffled.  Who were these characters?  Plus, there were so many!
Not to worry, characters are drawn in broad strokes, and a fair percentage are killed early on.
After awhile, I was glad I stayed with this, as I perceived what the producers were doing.
Big points there.  The final episode, however, proved deeply unsatisfying to most.
Latin majors, rejoice!  Ten episodes, spoken in the Classical language!

[Vultural]

La Revolution - 2020 - 6/10



Blood soaked reworking of the French Revolution.
Beware, this ain’t French History 101.
Aristocrats in the uppermost level are granted immortality.
The change does cause their blood to turn blue, and they develop a ravening hunger.
For fresh human, flesh and organs.
Pros:  Unlike other series that promise mayhem, this delivers blood, gore, fights and fires.
Plus, a superb villain, Count Donatien, whom you will dislike intensely.
Cons (POSSIBLE SPOILER):  Unresolved ending.  Did writers have no conclusion?  Or did Netflix urge them to hold back, hinting their may be a S02?  Whatever the reason, this is irritating.