393. Web-series Reviews – 208
More web-series reviews…
A review from IMDB...
This weird contrivance pulls together a web of unlikely and diverse characters who are drawn ever closer to the dark goings-on in the underbelly of Temple tube station. In the centre of this web is a brilliant heart surgeon who is grimly determined to cheat death. The magnetic screen presence of Mark Strong playing the brooding Doctor Daniel Milton (Paradise Lost reference there?) contrasts wonderfully with the desperation and idealism of his 'partner in crime' Lee Simmons (Daniel Mays). The doctor is suave, focused and emotionally closed - while the avid 'Prepper' Simmons is expressively neurotic; it's great chemistry. The surgery scenes are laughably brutal and realistic - Doctor Milton shouting for an instrument while Simmons fumbles about cursing.
It all starts with a heist gone hilariously wrong and the incompetent but lovable thief Jamie needing urgent surgical assistance - but off the record (obvs). It's a black comedy of sorts - with a peppering of Guy Richie about it (Lock Stock, Snatch), but also a serious drama about love and life and the unethical lengths to which we might go to preserve them. Because Dr Milton has a moral dilemma - what lengths should he go to preserve the life of the one he loves? It reminds me of the Rolling Stones song 'Gimme Shelter':
"Ooh, a storm is threatening My very life today If I don't get some shelter Ooh yeah, I'm gonna fade away"
The sentiment of the song matches this miniseries perfectly: just one decision, one shot, or one lie, can have unimaginable consequences.
I enjoyed the clever script writing which tells the story by weaving back and forth on the timeline and to and fro among the various character lines. I think this makes for an engaging watch and keeps the drama backstory rich while also moving forward.
The production is also great quality - creative camera work and excellent score (full orchestral soundscape) from composer Matthew Herbert (The Wonder, The Responder). Plus great bad ass roles from Wunmi Mosaku and Craig Parkinson (who both seem to be in everything at the moment) hamming it up as the unlikely lovers Mercy King and Keith Sullivan who are bad to the bone and out for deadly revenge.
Season 1 draws to a satisfying conclusion and works as a standalone piece but season 2 is a whole different ball game with an almost 'Breaking Bad' vibe about it - 'intelligent, professional man out of his depth in criminal dilemmas of his own making'. Yeah - perhaps that's quite a good way to sum it up - a kind of British version of Breaking Bad - that will do nicely.
My Take – Worth a watch!
Squid Game 2 – Season 2 came in end-2024. A story of people who fail at life for various reasons, but suddenly receive a mysterious invitation to participate in a survival game to win more than 38 million US dollars. The game takes place on an isolated island and the participants are locked up until there is a final winner. The story incorporates popular Korean children's games from the 1970s and 1980s, such as squid game, the literal translation of its Korean name, which is a type of tag where offense and defense use a squid-shaped board drawn in the dirt.
A review from IMDB...
Squid Game is one of my favorite shows, not because of its shocking scenes or nail-biting tension (though, let's be real, there's plenty of that), but because it's so genius in how it holds up a mirror to society.
On the surface, it's a game-a twisted, life-or-death game, sure-but scratch just below and you realize it's a razor-sharp critique of capitalism, inequality, and the human desire to escape the suffocating grip of financial despair.
Each game is a metaphor, each character a reflection of someone you might pass by on the street, struggling in their own way.
The beauty of Squid Game isn't just in the thrills-it's in how it makes you uncomfortable, challenging the very system we live in while keeping you glued to the screen. It's like watching a high-stakes circus act while realizing, a bit too late, that the clowns are us.
So, yeah, it's as brutal as it sounds, but don't let that scare you off. The show's clever, yes, but also darkly funny in places, and it pulls you in with its characters' desperation. You get why they're playing these twisted games, but that doesn't mean you're not constantly questioning how far you'd go in their shoes.
It's an emotional rollercoaster, and trust me, you'll be hooked, even if you start to feel guilty for rooting for these flawed, sometimes very unlikeable characters. It's a must-watch for anyone who loves a bit of thrill and social critique with their binge-worthy TV.
My Take – Worth a watch!
Protection – Came in 2024. BBC Production. Follows a witness protection officer who finds herself at the center of a breach; compromised by an extramarital romance with a coworker; but resolute in her resolve to fight back and unearth the real cause of corruption within her unit.
A review from IMDB...
I am writing this after series 1. I assume there won't be a second. This was a good series until the finale.
Maybe it was the strong cast that had kept me engaged (a lot of familiar B-listers but none of them really top billing) but the story just seemed to fall apart at the end. Maybe 6 episodes was too much for the writers.
I love Siobhan Finneran but this probably goes to show that she is a great support actress rather than a leading lady (even in Rita and Sue and Bob too see came second each time. The one time she came first there was an unsatisfactory outcome and the same goes for this show).
To have Siobhan, Katherine Kelly and Catherine Tyldesley in the first episode won me over but why they got as big a actress as Catherine Tyldesley for such a small role is beyond me (I guess she had a ship to catch) and she and Katherine Kelly are similar in looks and acting style.
I loved David Hayman as the cantankerous father, reluctantly having to give up on his independence as his health wanes and the way he acts with his daughter who dutifully followed him into the force is brilliantly written.
For a story made mainly in Liverpool, it did seem to have very few scousers but some great northern actors seeing the story through to a poor and convoluted conclusion.
My Take – Worth a watch!
Adios till next
time😊!!
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