264. Web-series Reviews – 102

 More web-series reviews…

Lupin – Came out in 2021.  Inspired by the adventures of Arsène Lupin, gentleman thief Assane Diop sets out to avenge his father for an injustice inflicted by a wealthy family.

One of the reviews from IMDB...

This French series is centred on Assane Diop, the son of a Senegalese immigrant who is determined to expose Hubert Pellegrini, the wealthy businessman who framed his late father for a robbery he didn't commit. As a boy his father introduced him to the stories about 'gentleman thief' Arsène Lupin and Assane has followed in his heroes feet; committing daring well planned burglaries to get what he needs to achieve his goals. Of course Pellegrini will play far dirtier to protect himself and Assane must also contend with the police; most notably Lupin fan Youssef Guedira.

I really enjoyed this series, it may require some suspension of disbelief but that shouldn't be a problem as it was never aiming for gritty realism. The story moves at a good pace and there are plenty of thrills; as well as a real sense of danger once we've seen what Pellegrini is prepared to do. The cast is impressive; most obviously Omar Sy who is great as protagonist Assane. The show looks great with fine scenery both in Paris and the countryside. The story nicely wraps up most details at the end of the second series without removing the possibility of further stories. Overall I'd definitely recommend this series; I just hope we get more.

These comments are based on watching the series in French with English subtitles.

My Take – Worth a watch!

 

Midsomer Murders – Running from 1997 till now:-)!  A whopping 23 seasons and 133 episodes so far, each about 1 hour and forty minutes long!

The British detective drama revolves around Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby's efforts to solve numerous murders that take place in the fictional English county of Midsomer. The current lead character is Detective Chief Inspector John Barnaby (Neil Dudgeon), who is the younger cousin of former lead character Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby (John Nettles). The Barnabys have worked with several different Sergeants throughout the run of the show, including Sergeant Gavin Troy (Daniel Casey), Sergeant Dan Scott (John Hopkins), Detective Sergeant Ben Jones (Jason Hughes), Detective Sergeant Charlie Nelson (Gwilym Lee), and Sergeant Jamie Winter (Nick Hendrix).

One of the reviews from IMDB...

I do prefer Inspector Morse for the complexity of the characters and the great John Thaw in the title role, but if you want an entertaining detective series, look no further than this or Touch of Frost(David Jason is fantastic in the lead). John Nettles excels as Tom Barnaby, with his dry humour and the dedication to his job. He is accompanied by Troy, Scott and Jones, and all of them played by their actors respectively bring humour, charm and intrigue in their own right. The episodes are intriguing, have a sense of fun, and the murders sometimes are so brutal you have to look away. (the Rainbirds murder in the episode the Killing at Badgers Drift is a good example)The script is fresh, and while the final solutions aren't always complicated, they do make you think deep. There are some truly memorable moments like Richard Briers throwing himself from the church tower, George Baker playing two feuding brothers, Oliver Ford-Davies and that infamously bizarre death scene and Anna Massey chasing Joanna David with an axe, or what have you, very like the Shining. All in all, an entertaining series. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Another review from IMDB...

The cases of Chief Inspector Barnaby, a respectable middle-aged family man and a good old fashioned copper and his young sergeant Gavin Troy who is rather touchy and immature and is always jumping to conclusions during investigations. All of the duo's cases take place in the picturesque yet fictional county of Midsomer which must have the highest death rate anywhere in the world!

This highly popular detective series was first aired on 23 March 1997 when the pilot episode "The Killings At Badgers Drift" was transmitted. ITV announced it as a one off film but it was very successful with figures in the region of 13.5 million viewers, and the film won the Best Drama Award that year. The film was based on the 1987 novel by Caroline Graham which was regarded by the Crime Writers' Association as being one of the Top 100 crime novels of all time. The initial series which followed was based on Graham's other four Inspector Barnaby novels, these were "Written In Blood", "Death Of A Hollow Man", "Death In Disguise" and "Faithful Unto Death". Having filmed the majority of Graham's novels featuring Barnaby (A Place Of Safety & Ghost In The Machine have not been filmed as yet) the producers turned to other writers to provide new stories for the subsequent five series. These have included contributions from prolific and accomplished writers such as Anthony Horowitz ("Agatha Christie's Poirot"), Douglas Watkinson ("The Professionals", "Boon", "Emmerdale") and Christopher Russell ("The Bill", "Cadfael"). In the past six years since it made its debut on British television there has been nearly thirty episodes and there is no hint of the series finishing yet. The series is notable in that it has brought John Nettles back to prime time TV after the "Bergerac" series finished in 1993. In this series he played Sergeant Bergerac, a Jersey copper fighting alcoholism and has had uncomfortable relationships with several girlfriends, a role far removed from that of Inspector Barnaby.

The first episode of the seventh series entitled "The Green Man" was aired on 2 November 2003. Daniel Casey who plays Sergeant Troy has left the series. The character has been promoted to Inspector and is leaving Midsomer to take up a position in Newcastle. John Nettles will have a new sidekick in John Hopkins as Sergeant Scott who will be introduced when the remainder of the series is broadcast in January 2004.

"Midsomer Murders" is a wonderful series, although like many long running series, it has occasionally fallen below it's own standard in that the ideas for new plots sometimes becomes strained after so many episodes. The characters are rich and well realised by first class actors and it gets full mileage out of it's rural setting. Guest stars have included Alan Howard (the nephew of Leslie Howard) and Samantha Bond (Miss Moneypenny in all the James Bond films since "Goldeneye"). The quality of this series to my mind is that it should make it to the big screen someday. There would be no need to change anything as all the ingredients for a good cinema feature are there already. These days most of the quality stuff is on the small screen and a lot of mediocre stuff is lumbered on our picture houses.

It has been announced that John Nettles will be quitting the show after playing Inspector Barnaby for twelve-years since the show made its debut. However, he will still be seen in it until 2011 and it looks very much like the show will still continue very much in the manner of other TV shows such as Taggart and McCallam, which carried on without their title characters.

My Take – Not to be missed!  I have completed 4 seasons and am now onto other older pending series.  Will return to this once I complete watching the others😊!!

Veronica Mars – Ran from 2004-2019.  4 seasons totalling 72 episodes.  Had a long gap in between.

The murder of high-school student Lilly Kane shook the seaside town of Neptune, California to the core. For once popular girl Veronica Mars, it meant the loss of her best friend and being ousted from the affluent crowd that she once thought were her friends. Her father, Sheriff Keith Mars, found himself voted out of his job after making some unpopular accusations about the murdered girl's family. In response, Keith opened his own private detective agency. Now, Veronica, with her sardonic wit and a few new friends, works as his assistant while also navigating life as a high school (and later college) student.

One of the reviews from IMDB...

I see that some people really hated this show. I'm not sure what's so offensive about it. I started watching it because I watch anything involved with mysteries, and I like Kristen Bell.

Veronica Mars is a high school student in Neptune, California, where her father was once the local sheriff. When her best friend and boyfriend's sister Lilly Kane (Amanda Seyfried) is murdered, her father accuses the Amanda's father Ted Kane (Kyle Secor) of the murder. When someone is arrested for it, Kane uses his influence to have Veronica's father removed from office. He then opens his own private detective agency.

Veronica, once in with the in crowd, finds herself isolated from her former so-called friends, and is now in with the out crowd. Nevertheless she holds her head up and works with her dad on solving mysteries, all the while trying to get information on her mother, who disappeared at the time of the murder. And, though her father has warned her about continuing with her friend's murder case, she doesn't believe the man arrested is the killer and still delves into it.

The main cast is made up of mostly young people, and I will say that acting isn't the strongest thing about this show. But I do like the street-smart Veronica and her sharp responses to the kids in school, even though she pines for her ex, Duncan (Teddy Dunn) and has had to face loss of loved ones and stature.

I think this was a good character-driven series. It's important with films and shows to take them for what they are and not look for them to be anything else. It's a show about a teenager that adults can get into, and it's well done.

My Take – An ok series.  Saw the first season and "read" all the other episodes:-)

Cheers till next time😊!