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Reviews
Evil (2019)
Best Show Ever Made
The headline says it all. I could gush about so many things about this show, but a point by point would be far too long. The actors, the characters, the writing, the depth of content, understanding of both secular and religious views, story, unexpected twists, dark and dry and deep humor- just everything. Couldn't be better. Even the annoying and yelling daughters manage to be far more entertaining and enjoyable as characters than their constant chattering and shouting would leave you to believe. IMDb needs more than 10 stars available for Evil's rating. It's so good that I'm leaving a review for it, which is saying something, because I rarely feel like reviewing something unless it's just awful- this is on the exact opposite spectrum. So good.
Ennemi public (2016)
Could've been good
I've watched my way through almost all of the Scandinavian, Finnish, English, Polish, German, Welsh, Dutch-Belgian and French language crime dramas Netflix has to offer, and nearly all have been enjoyable or even great. This one, however, is an exception. If I wasn't a glutton for self-punishment (as in, once I've started a show, unless it's the absolute worst thing I've ever seen, I begrudgingly finish it), I would have stopped on EP 2. But, since there were a few redeeming qualities, I made it through season 1, and will try to get through 2.
The story was a bit plodding and slow, but that was bearable. The plot itself is a decent one, and there is some amount of intrigue from the who-dunnit perspective that both help make the slow plot palatable. This is harmed, however, to a great extent, by the sheer and absolute idiocy of the main protagonist. We're it not for the also redeeming factor of a few other somewhat interesting characters, I wouldn't have made it through the suffering that is watching the character of Chloe Muller act and "think", which she actually does very little of. She's a terrible cop, absolutely unfit for duty due to some mental issues that would certainly endanger lives in real life. To make it worse, she's also dumb as rocks-and not only that, but also 100% reactive. It's through sheer dumb luck that any resolution is achieved at all, but it seems as though we're supposed to accept that it's due to her no-rules attitude. This is worsened by the fact that the actress never manages to portray a too-cool-for-rules demeanor to compensate for her character's lack of intelligence, instead only making faces of confusion, or perhaps of constipation or maybe pain. It was so bad that by the end of season 1 I was having difficulty not hating her face too. Overall, basically, only watch it if you've nothing left on your list to watch. As I said, some of the supporting characters help lighten the distaste the main protagonist creates. But there are certainly many better crime dramas available on Netflix both from Belgium and beyond.
Edit: Season 2 is proving to be much better. There is less of Chloe Muller, and when she's there, her errors are more forgivable. The story around some of the other more enjoyable characters has picked up and continued on as well. That said, it's still something I'm watching more just to be done with, rather than something I look forward to seeing each night. If the first season were not made so atrocious by the things previously commented on, I would raise my rating to a 5/10. But since they make you suffer to get to a place you might reward those extra 3 tenths, I'll have to keep it at a 2/10.