This is the first netflix series from Netherlands. It's not really about a student fraternity but this is what you think the first three episodes. I really had a hard time getting through endless talking heads and shallow characters and initiation rituals that were quite lame. I felt quite disappointed and feared that this show was not more than some familiar horror elements thrown together in the blender.
But then, everything changed. The show gets very dark (literally, sometime you can hardly see what happens) and mysterious. I think the whole symbolism is obvious. But if you are not Dutch and don't know about our history this can explain why you don't get it.
In the first episode somebody already asks "how do you think the Dutch got so rich and powerful?" well the answer is given in the last episode. The price for this "success" is high and we are still feeling the effects. Poverty in Africa and social struggles in Indonesia, Surinams etc. are partly because of the endeavours of our ancestors. In modern times the people from the former colonies ask for us to recognize our rascist past. And people respond to this demand differently. this is ultimately what this series is about. The struggle portraited in a symbolic way. The solution seems to be, live with your guilt (and swallow it) or not. I think the show is very clear.
In the end this show is not about a fraternity. This is not a cult and the people in it are not evil. They are also a victim and to blame and the same time. The secret they protect is the source of their succes. But ultimately it's also the source of their demise. It left me thinking. This show works on different levels and i am really curious what will happen in the next season.
But then, everything changed. The show gets very dark (literally, sometime you can hardly see what happens) and mysterious. I think the whole symbolism is obvious. But if you are not Dutch and don't know about our history this can explain why you don't get it.
In the first episode somebody already asks "how do you think the Dutch got so rich and powerful?" well the answer is given in the last episode. The price for this "success" is high and we are still feeling the effects. Poverty in Africa and social struggles in Indonesia, Surinams etc. are partly because of the endeavours of our ancestors. In modern times the people from the former colonies ask for us to recognize our rascist past. And people respond to this demand differently. this is ultimately what this series is about. The struggle portraited in a symbolic way. The solution seems to be, live with your guilt (and swallow it) or not. I think the show is very clear.
In the end this show is not about a fraternity. This is not a cult and the people in it are not evil. They are also a victim and to blame and the same time. The secret they protect is the source of their succes. But ultimately it's also the source of their demise. It left me thinking. This show works on different levels and i am really curious what will happen in the next season.