Glamorous to a fault
Extremely good looking lawyers, fancy cars, shady people, cheesy dialogue against a hue of dramatic music - no this isn't the American show Suits. This is however, a show that favours style over substance. That perhaps should have been clear to me when I saw it was rated 15, meaning the dialogue and action scenes would sometimes be a little more embellished than necessary. Quite often I was cringing whilst watching some scenes. There's a lack of suspense and tension because our lead protagonist, by being a member of the Italian mafia, is endowed with a level of skill and access to fortune that makes you believe he can overcome problems in any scene by the end of that scene. The show rarely builds up conflicts that aren't resolved within that immediate episode. Every bit of tension is quickly fixed with an unexplained resolution or a random character suddenly displaying a new set of skills that were never hinted at before. As the lead female character remarked during one episode, "is everyone here a hidden genius?" it's a funny line that poked at the show's main problems. For all its glamour and sparkle, there was a crippling shallowness to its writing.
The story premise itself is interesting and there are some character dynamics that deserved far greater focus. Every character has some interest family backgrounds and motivations that, had they been fleshed out, would have made the show more enjoyable to watch. When the show did focus on these angles, the storylines were generally of high quality. In particular, episodes 14 to 16 were brilliant because the show knew what to focus on. Mostly this didn't happen for too much of the show. As it was, the show did keep you going through the leading acting duo's chemistry and skills on screen. I thought that Vincenzo Cassano was an excellent character even if it was difficult to believe he was ever in any real danger.
Overall, this show is good to watch but you won't get much out of it. The interesting, and potentially heart-tugging arcs that it had never received enough attention to make the show very memorable.
The story premise itself is interesting and there are some character dynamics that deserved far greater focus. Every character has some interest family backgrounds and motivations that, had they been fleshed out, would have made the show more enjoyable to watch. When the show did focus on these angles, the storylines were generally of high quality. In particular, episodes 14 to 16 were brilliant because the show knew what to focus on. Mostly this didn't happen for too much of the show. As it was, the show did keep you going through the leading acting duo's chemistry and skills on screen. I thought that Vincenzo Cassano was an excellent character even if it was difficult to believe he was ever in any real danger.
Overall, this show is good to watch but you won't get much out of it. The interesting, and potentially heart-tugging arcs that it had never received enough attention to make the show very memorable.
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