Reviews
Deadloch (2023)
Unbearable
I was hoping this would be another quirky series from "down under" aka Mystery Road or One Lane Bridge. Kate Box is a great actress. But, with the introduction of Inspector Redcliffe, played by Madeleine Sami, it quickly devolved to being rude, crude and unbearable to watch. Not funny at all. If another season of this is never produced, it will be too soon. In years past, Amazon Studios had many good original shows. But, with the exception of an occasional hit (Daisy Jones & the Six, for one, was exceptional; Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan; Reacher), most of Amazon's recent original content leaves much to be desired.
Paratiisi (2020)
A mixed bag
First of all, this is a good mystery, suspenseful right up to the end. It's quite hard to follow as it often switches from Finnish, to Spanish, to English usually within a scene. Subtitles are provided when speaking is in Finnish or Spanish. But, there are no subtitles when English is spoken and accents are so pronounced it's impossible to understand what the characters are saying. Turning on closed captions just doesn't work as they block the subtitles. Lastly, the end is quite unsatisfying. I found myself totally unsympathetic to the lead Finnish character, hoping that she's overwhelmed with guilt.
Again, good mystery but not one I'd recommend.
Quirke (2013)
Don't believe the naysayers
Quirke is an excellent miniseries. Hence, I can't believe all the low ratings and bad reviews of Quirke. I don't normally post reviews on IMDB; in fact, this one may be my first. But the naysayers prompted me to action.
Quirke is brooding. Atmospheric. Serious drama with more than one plot line. Excellent acting performances are delivered by Gabriel Byrne, Nick Dunning, Aisling Franciosi and others.
Perhaps thoughtful, serious drama isn't for everyone. But Quirke shouldn't be panned because of it. I highly recommend this drama and only wish there had been additional series produced.