Bloodlands

Peter McGinn6/10

Mar 3, 2021

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I couldn’t get into this series, but I wouldn’t discourage anyone from giving it a try. I really like the lead actor — isn’t he the pig farmer from Ned Devine? — and a few others in the cast seemed fine. The plot never really grabbed me, however. It seemed familiar to me, but to be fair, there are only so many police detective themes out there, and the detective who takes on a cold case that no one wants him to handle and which is part of his own past and turns dangerous, is one of them. Perhaps the show fell victim to my long waiting list of shows and movies I have lined up to watch. Perhaps if my list gets shorter or if I see where the entire series gets rave reviews, I can revisit it in the future.

It was interesting to see another reviewer state they couldn't get into this series, funnily enough, nor could I. I'm going to try to break down why that is. I suspect the problem here is there are too many sub plots. Constantly introducing often predictable and at times cliched, sub plots tends to detract from and water down the overriding focus of the story, an assassin who just happen's to be a police officer. Is the assassin/cop going to get caught, will there be a big reveal or will he go on getting away with it? This should be the key pivot point of this series but there is so much else going on, you tend to loose focus. All this narrative "noise" is not only exhausting for the viewer but it tends to result in cognitive dissonance and a slow creeping disinterest. Certainly, by season two I was having a hard time keeping this one going. I don't feel the characterisations do this series a lot of favours, either. There's a cardboard cut out quality to the villains of the piece. They lack social complexity and the inherent psychological contradictions, you might expect to find in any human being, be they mostly good or mostly bad. Its a shame too, as this series comes with a very strong cast of actors and high production values. In summary, I believe this series has too many eggs in the air, plot wise, a lack of real character depth and development, plus a good sprinkling of tired cliches. The result is series that gradually exhausts and bores the viewer, by degree, making this one hard going.