The show faithfully weaves through the chaotic aftermath of assassination of prime minister Djindjic, following several viewpoints - the press, the police, the politicians and the criminals.
The production and camera work are both great and the actors are very convincing, nailing the speaking style of all protagonists and antagonists.
The main problem is the number of characters. There are so many, many names and characters it becomes hard to follow the various motivations and connections. I would say that Sablja requires significant previous knowledge of Serbian 90s and 2000's politics and the vast crime scene that held the country in it's grip to fully understand what's going on.
The show tries to tell it all and it's clearly aiming at the local audience, since they will have no problem identifying who's who. And more importantly, why.
The topic of Djindjic assassination has been explored in length in various documentaries and both the good guys and the bad guys are all household names in Serbia. And this may be what gets foreign viewers confused. Motivations for the assassination are very superficially covered and unless you're a history buff that followed the collapse of Yugoslavia, you'll be hard pressed to understand what is really going on here.
I think a shorter character list would've benefited the show and made it more accessible. But the Djindjic assassination is still a very touchy topic in Serbia and this being the first attempt at making a dramatized tv show about the events, it's understandable that the director didn't want to cut any corners.
