I just wrapped up watching all 30 episodes of the show's first (and thus far only) season. Like the other review of this show, the start of the series is all over the place, with no real focus. You're led to believe this all about Aljosa (played by the popular rapper, Voyage) and his struggles of juggling his father's dreams of him being a successful boxer with his own dreams of making it big in music. While that plays a part in the beginning, Aljosa ends up being just another character in an ensemble cast of young Serbs in the Belgrade-suburb of Zemun.
The young cast isn't that bad. At first I found Aljosa's sister Milica to be kind of one-dimension but she got better as the show progressed. At the same time, I found the actress that plays Vanja (Ivana Zecevic) to be the stand out of the group. I think she does a good job juggling her drunk (and eventually absent) father's cafe, her own various love interests, and the antics of her brother Filip.
As for the adult characters in the series, they all kind of just "disappear" at different points in the series. Vanja's father plays a key role in the season's first arc, then disappears to "sober himself". Then you have Aljosa and Milica's parents go on vacation around episode 22 and not return. The only "established" actor who stays throughout the series (not including Simke's grandmother who I would consider a side character) is Sergej Trifunovic, who plays Aljosa and Milica's free-spirited uncle. Considering how small the Ex-Yu actor pool is, I suspect Branka Katic, Nikola Kojo, and Nebojsa Dugalic all had other committments and couldn't stick around for 30 episodes.
Story arcs go all over the place. In addition to the adult characters disappearing, Simke's grandmother's dementia/alzheimer is briefly addressed then forgotten about. We get a new character introduced with three episodes remaining, with that storyline not really seeing a proper conclusion. Then the season ends with a cliffhanger as an early character makes a 'surprise' return.
It does sound like a second season is expected. If that's the case, I do hope they address all the storylines from the first season, tidy up all the loose ends then try to keep things more focused.
The young cast isn't that bad. At first I found Aljosa's sister Milica to be kind of one-dimension but she got better as the show progressed. At the same time, I found the actress that plays Vanja (Ivana Zecevic) to be the stand out of the group. I think she does a good job juggling her drunk (and eventually absent) father's cafe, her own various love interests, and the antics of her brother Filip.
As for the adult characters in the series, they all kind of just "disappear" at different points in the series. Vanja's father plays a key role in the season's first arc, then disappears to "sober himself". Then you have Aljosa and Milica's parents go on vacation around episode 22 and not return. The only "established" actor who stays throughout the series (not including Simke's grandmother who I would consider a side character) is Sergej Trifunovic, who plays Aljosa and Milica's free-spirited uncle. Considering how small the Ex-Yu actor pool is, I suspect Branka Katic, Nikola Kojo, and Nebojsa Dugalic all had other committments and couldn't stick around for 30 episodes.
Story arcs go all over the place. In addition to the adult characters disappearing, Simke's grandmother's dementia/alzheimer is briefly addressed then forgotten about. We get a new character introduced with three episodes remaining, with that storyline not really seeing a proper conclusion. Then the season ends with a cliffhanger as an early character makes a 'surprise' return.
It does sound like a second season is expected. If that's the case, I do hope they address all the storylines from the first season, tidy up all the loose ends then try to keep things more focused.
