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Halifax: Retribution (2020)
It's just so...bland
Every episode: "How are you?" And "Are you ok?" Or "How are you doing?" So much lame emotion!
Every episode: Police helicopter apparently mindlessly flying around the city too fast to see any suspects, and too high as well.
Not any episode: Any discussion whatsoever about all the victims of the sniper. You'd think they'd try and find at least some similarities among the dead people but other than lame emotion baiting for one such person, we know almost nothing of them.
Are you kidding me?: The sniper goes atop tall buildings and shoots at people, including through their penthouse apartment windows. So just to be safe, our hero Halifax leaves her rather secluded, fortress-like home just to take up residence in a friend's vacant penthouse with nothing but floor to ceiling windows that have no shades. Wut?
Acting!: Anthony Lapaglia (sp?) as the head of the task force, who seems to fully not appreciate the growing body count. And for some lame reason decides now is a good time to get off the wagon and get drunk. His involvement in the plot line only gets worse with each episode, culminating in a totally predictable hero's presence by the end.
The Sniper: Man is this guy good! World class sniping from great distances, never a clue, and the smartest tech guy in all of Australia. Really! The only thing he sucks at is finding a genuine reason for all these mindless murders. Something about the environment or big brother or corporate greed or...well, it hardly matters it turns out.
Non uccidere (2015)
Think of it as a Graphic Novella
I've watched two seasons of this, since it just recently became available to me here in the USA via PBS on Roku. If better cops shows were out there that I have yet to see, I don't think I'd have continued with this but the pickings is slim these days in my world. If you can imagine this series as a comic book or graphic novel you'll get the best idea of the plot lines and development. I'm no genius but there were several episodes I'd figured out within the first 20 minutes or so, then had to sit through for the next 100 minutes for it to all play out.
Pretty much everybody with a major part in this series is simply fantastic looking so there was part of me just waiting for the obligatory sex scenes, albeit such were quite few in number. And maybe it really is that way in Italy, but it's impossible to imagine the svelte young detective (Valeria) having it on with her middle-aged boss in his unlocked office, or openly kissing him in the police station hallway, cuddling in the parking lot, and all the other obvious shows of affection that are in this series. Clearly this drama was thought up before the "Me Too" movement, or they just don't care about that sort of thing in Italy. Valeria conducts herself at work and in the field somewhat like a savant yet lackadaisical teenager, always dressed in jeans and a baggy top while her coworkers have dresses, uniforms, jackets, and ties. Man, she must really be a great detective to get away with that! It is therefore a mystery how she is so duped by, yet enamored with, her pig-headed boss. Or why (especially in season 1) she treats her honorable, competent and devoted main partner (Andrea) like a staff gopher. The poor guy barely has 10 lines per episode. I'd imagine that in the real world...even the Italian real world...her co-workers would hate her guts for all the, ahem, "stuff" she gets away with simply by sleeping with the boss.
Speaking of sleeping around, I think every episode of season 2 involves infidelity, scoring, players, and cheating in some major way (what is the divorce rate in that country, anyway? It must be astronomical.). The directing and continuity in this series could use some work, too. Plots can be hard to follow as sometimes a critical piece of information is just blurted out in the middle of what otherwise seems to be just a short filler scene. That "what's my secret?" subplot of Valeria's mother gets really tiresome after awhile, too. Just tell us, and move on to some new deep dark secret with another character. Please.
Technically the show seriously lacks at times. Lots of extreme close ups for no apparent reason. Procedural errors, like the detectives walking around the fresh crime scene unencumbered by Tyvek suits, booties, and even gloves in one instance. The scene where the guy had supposedly shot himself in the head with a shotgun was laughable for any serious crime drama viewer (I won't get graphic here; neither did they). Basically, if you like the English village kind of cop shows where a little old lady sleuths through watercolor crime scenes devoid of too much reality you'll probably like this series.
Sorjonen (2016)
Breakout Laughing at Times; Very Odd to English Speakers
I watched the series in the Netflix English dub and it was awful. My comments apply to that experience, but not exclusively.
Can you imagine the puppet series "Thunderbirds Are Go" techniques used for a crime show? If so you've got this series well in hand. The lead character has this super duper crime solving talent that requires him to fumble around with his hands on his head and face, and flail his wrists and arms around while examining crimes. Try watching segments with the sound off and you'll get the full effect! Add to that visual an empty, flat sounding English voice-over using words and expressions from about 1960-1980 America, and you're well on your way to understanding the production problems with this show. "Who moved the stiff?" somebody asks. Cracked me up it was so out of character for the actor speaking. But there is more.
The writing and directing seems spotty and inconsistent throughout the episodes, and especially through the seasons.Some of the gaffs are downright ridiculous, like when the lead female detective walks into a crime scene, then unabashedly bends to pick the murder weapon, only to get yelled at by the crime scene tech. Really? What was she thinking? She wasn't even acting cagey about it--just stoops over the weapon to grab it and gets yelled at. Doh!
I don't know where all the 8+ reviews are coming from here on IMDb but they must be from people starved for better crime series. Maybe it is good for the 80% of the world of non-native English speakers, but for the other 20% of us it is mostly awkward, laughable incredulousness at its best.