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White Lines (2020)
Don't understand all the hate
Maybe I'm a bit biased being Portuguese and all, but I sincerely don't understand all the 1 and 2 reviews this one is getting... This is certainly not a perfect series, I particularly think that the transition between the several storylines and timelines could have been much better, it was a bit jumpy to my taste, but other than that I found it very enjoyable. The casting was near perfect, the actors portrayed their roles very well and you could actually connect with some of them; even with all their flaws and intrigues, you felt their pain, their frustration, their joy... And the storyline is very coherent throughout, albeit a bit out of this world, but that's to be expected in the subject that is being portrayed. Above everything else, it's an incredible depiction of a lifestyle that even though it's exaggerated (for obvious reasons), it resembles quite well the actual life in Ibiza during the summer months; apart from all the death and murder... I think haha
Anyway, if you are coming to this expecting La Casa de Papel 2.0, you're getting disappointed, it's not at all equal, but that's fine, it stands on its own two legs. Worth the watch!
The Pharmacist (2020)
When will the greed of men ever stop...?
My goodness, is this something... I was expecting something good seeing as it's a docuseries from Netflix and they always tend to make good ones, but this, this is a whole new level of good from Netflix.
I wouldn't really qualify it as eye opening to me because even being from Portugal, as a biochemist I've always been quite aware of the opioid problem in the US and I don't think this series could ever apply to anywhere else in the globe, but it sure showed me some new perspectives into it. The greed and lack of moral values, the arrogance of executives, it's just appalling... Imo, however, the most important part in here is that it shows law enforcement is way under-prepared for this kind of problems. All throughout the series we could see the inaction of law enforcement, either because the law itself was not properly put together for these situations or because they simply didn't know better. Some food for thought...
Anyway, the best part of the documentary is that it goes full circle, it doesn't leave you hanging for answers, and maybe in the future they can make a second part, as we're only now entering the real fight against big opioid pharma. My only real problem with it was the timeline in the first and second episodes, which could have been better, but other than that, very well done, thoroughly recommend. And a big salute to Dan Schneider, the man whose stubborn persistence even through despair led to all of this!
Ragnarok (2020)
A very, very pleasant surprise
Just to start it off, I liked this series so much, that I decided to review it; it's like my second review in almost 5 years of IMDb, so I mean it when I say I liked it! And I watched through it in just one sitting... Beware, it's very, very addictive!
It's just so good at every phase, that you can get past the small shortcomings: of course you have the classical teenage clichés, after all it's a teenage show for the most part, but even at that they can find a very different spin to it with the whole Norse mythology; and the CGI isn't exactly perfect, but bear in mind we're talking about the first season of a foreign production, even the acclaimed The Witcher had problems there. And talking about Norse mythology, I don't know much about it in detail, but for the most part I think it was very accurate and lovers of mythology will thoroughly enjoy this series. Anyway, it's very well acted, you just believe in each character and you can in fact relate to most of them at some point, the pace is very good, very fast (only 6 episodes), but not too fast, the plot is for the most part very captivating, and the ending... Just amazing!
Overall, I definitely recommend this one, it's a very different spin on Thor, I guess you could say it's a Thor origin series haha
And as if we needed another proof Netflix has been the single greatest invention for foreign productions, they throw at us this amazing fastball fearlessly down the middle *strong applause*
Z Nation (2014)
Best Zombie ACTION TV series!
Yes, you read it right, I used all caps in the title! I did this in order to make it clear this is an action TV series. I've read a lot of reviews, and all compare this series to The Walking Dead, which is plain stupidity since they are totally different series starting with genre. Whereas TWD is mostly a drama, Z Nation is a bloody action series. Obviously, it's not just action, we have a mixture of genres, but the first reaction people have when watching Z Nation is "so much violence".
And that brings me to this review. I'm not a review writer, this is actually my first review, which just goes to show how I think about this series.
For all we zombie fans out there, I feel there's been a lack of good ol' fashion zombie series with new school zombie series focusing increasingly in character development, and not so much in killing zombies. With a 'kill kill kill' mentality, Z Nation does just that, and more, achieving a good character development throughout the first season, which makes it a perfect combo.
- 1. The storyline. For me, it was great! The script is very solid, and clever, for a series of this kind, and although the storyline branches a lot, which makes it hard to follow some times, it's totally worth it because it is so well structured that it actually makes sense in the end, and it makes the journey even more enjoyable. We have stretches of action, drama, and even comedy throughout the 1st season, and they are really well mixed, taking you from sadness to cracking up in a second.
- 2. Characters. At first glance the characters suck, I'll admit it, but as the series progresses, and new characters are introduced (with some being killed off), you get a fond feeling towards them, and start rooting for them to make it, which for me is a great tell of a good series.
- 3. Visual effects. I think they really did a solid job here. It's no TWD, Furious 7 or Avatar, but with their budget, and hurries during filming, it's impeccable. The zombies look real most of the times, the action scenes are incredible, and things that normally look bad on Syfy series, look pretty good.
Overall, I think this is one of the best series Syfy as ever aired, really worth a watch. I went into watching this series with an open mentality, and I'm glad I did it because I became addicted to it, and couldn't wait for the next episode. If you truly love zombies, I recommend you give it a try, I think you'll have a pleasant surprise.