Suburra - La serie 21 Days (2017–2019) Online

The first Italian series I've watched, this first episode is promising. It does suffer from the same problem as the BBC miniseries McMafia, diving deep into a complex plot without making it clear the role of each character. This isn't helped by the acting which is only passable and does little to differentiate each character. I had to read a recap to fully understand what is going on. I'd advise anyone thinking of watching to read refinery29's recap titled 'Is This Netflix Show The New Narcos?' which makes it clearer. Maybe the reason I found it confusing is because I haven't watched the film, I don't know.

But once you understand what is going on, it really is very good. Each character is trying to get by in this dog-eat-dog world. Focussing primarily on three boys, each from a different family with its own interests, it does a great job of showing the nuances in their characters, rather than them being one-dimensional evil gangsters. One is the son of a cop who is too weedy to belong in this world, one is, I think, a mafioso who hides his vulnerability with his violent streak. And one is born into a gypsy family. They are all interesting characters, each with their own nuances.

The plot revolves around a small plot of land, and I guess the dark humour behind the premise of the show is how much all these people will do, all the violence, alliances, blackmails and double-cross, just for this one plot of land.

Suburra the Series returns a couple of key actors from the film this is based on. I watched the film first with English sub titles and then I saw the series dubbed into English. For some reason I couldn't find the combination to hear each episode in Italian with English subtitles which I would have preferred. I did notice that the English subtitles and dubbing did not match which seems odd. Note: I found out how to change the audio to Italian which improved the presentation. There appears to be two Italian versions - one of which adds narration.

The series itself is melodrama and shows the consequences of a few evil actions spreading out and linking the characters in ways that get revealed later on. It is a bit like watching a spider weave a web. Even when you guess at a story-line it is hard to stop watching.

Much of the story concerns the fellow travelers - 20 something blokes. I expect the target market is therefore 20 something young blokes. So no surprises that they are quite clueless and misdirected. In fact several times early on I wondered why they don't talk to each other about what is going on and then I remembered being 20 something and also somewhat clueless.

The acting is a bit like watching 2 or 3 character chasing each other around a giant trampoline. Sometimes it is so bad that it is good but I found myself wishing for a bit more self awareness and insight.

The actor who plays Aureliano does this particular stance where his eyes bulge out of their sockets. The defining characteristic of the Spadino character is his smirk. Also that Spadino is gay is not a surprise but seems to be played that way.

I'm not sure what that means but it is a bit disconcerting. Possibly he is reacting to the script and saying something like "you want me to say what?" Like the other lead actors he is incredulous at the script which is very predictable. A hint. Pretty much everyone is shafting the others while pretending to work together. The series is compelling in the same way that watching a train smash is compelling. While there is movement it is hard to look away.

If the series survives and gets more funding perhaps the lead characters will get better if they don't kill each other first.