User Reviews

This show is actually really really good. The writing is strong, the actors are wonderful, and the budget is a lot higher than most Greek shows I've watched (don't get me started!).

My only issue is the telenovela genre which consists of a LOT of episodes. Four days a week with an average run time of 50 minutes leaves room for filler and repetition.

That small aside, this is a drama series worth getting addicted to and I'm so thrilled I discovered it on ANT1 in the US. The actors are seriously so talented (most are theatre-trained and it shows) and they get really meaty material to work with from the writers. You can see them luxuriate over each word like they own it and they certainly do. And then the direction, cinematography, sets, and music all work together to create a really beautiful piece of television. Is this the start of a new age for Greek television and cinema in Greece? I certainly hope so.

It's an incredible TV series with so many talented actors and actresses. The writing is good. Indeed the best Greek TV series of 2019.

The best greek daily series of all time.

Love it!!!

Plot: At the beginning of the series, the play takes place in 1958. We are located in the Thessalian plain and more specifically in Diafani, a small village outside Larissa. The powerful large landowner of the area, Doukas Sevastos, wants at all costs to acquire the land that three orphan sisters have in the plain, in order to use it to create a large industrial zone. These are the estates of the three Stamiris brothers: 28-year-old Eleni, 22-year-old Asimina and 18-year-old Drosos. The three girls have lost their father and mother and so the older sister, who is also the protector of the younger ones, is forced under pressure to enter into an agreement with Tsiflikas, in order to secure the future of her younger brothers, to get married. His eldest son, Sergio, and he to take the coveted estates as a dowry.

However, on the same night of her wedding, she and her sisters will paint their hands with blood, opening a vicious circle between the two families. At the same time, many other small and big stories are being played. The series depicts the way the people of the time lived, presenting the impact of the post-occupation period but also various folklore and ethnographic elements. The 3rd cycle takes place during the period of military dictatorship in Greece, from 1967 to 1974, presenting in an impressive way and with brilliant liveliness that time and its events.

This period drama series, set in the plain of Thessaly in the 1950s and 1960s, falls neatly within the genre of "telenovela" (i.e. a type of soap opera with a finite structure and a full narrative arc, as opposed to the more common open-ended type of daily soap). It is the first of its kind (daily period drama) to be made in Greece, but it is reminiscent of similar international hits like "Seis Hermanas" (Spain, 2015-2017). As such, it is full of the familiar tropes and clichés of the genre, so you *have* to be prepared for them going into the series and you have to learn to accept them and love them for what they are, otherwise there is no point watching.

As a project, this series is blessed with an extraordinary amount of talent, from writing and (more so) directing, to acting:

1. The acting. The cast of this series mostly consists of stage actors; highly acclaimed actors with multiple theatrical accolades. This elevates the overall quality and the quality of some scenes in particular to remarkable highs.

2. The atmosphere: sets, costumes, photography - everything is done to a high standard. There may not be a great variety of shooting locations but everything looks and feels how it should. The eras depicted (late 1950s in the 1st season, mid-1960s in the 2nd) feel accurate enough to allow full immersion in the story. There's next to no anachronisms, my only accuracy qualm being the use of local dialect, or to be precise, the lack thereof.

3. Characters and storylines: not all characters nor all story arcs are great, but the world of the story is so rich that there's something for everyone. There's plenty of three-dimensional characters with complex stories, conflicts, and existential dilemmas; there's comic relief characters who still feel fully fleshed-out. There is a great deal of sensibility in the way the stories are built: despite the heavy use of tropes, none of them remains generic, they often get embellished with details and literary-level observations. Thematically, there is a huge range, which also covers hard and little-discussed social and ethnographic themes, under a very welcome and refreshing female gaze by showrunner Melina Tsampani.

4. Original music: also unlike other products of this genre there is loads of original scoring, both in terms of recurring themes and within individual episodes/scenes. The soundtrack by Alex Sid (Alexandros Sidiropoulos) is in itself a beautiful collection of songs which transport the listener to the world of the series (check it out on youtube - all songs are released there by PanikRecords).

In all, I don't feel guilty at all watching what, based on genre, ought to be a guilty pleasure. There's so many beautiful and well-executed elements in it and it makes me feel..."all the feels", which is the whole point for a piece of television drama. Truly a blessing in the difficult times of the 2020 pandemic.

I am excited by this series. Great performances, suspense, cliffhanger episode endings, secrets and mystery. It includes everything a demanding viewer wants. It is also set in the Greek postwar era, so it appeals more to people obsessed with the past as myself... All characters even the minor ones are interesting and the protagonists have a back story that gradually unravels and adds more depth and dimension to each of them... Everyone has a reason for his actions. But those actions inevitably have consequences.... As time goes by, the viewer is very difficult to choose side. Even the more unlikeable characters become sometimes likeable. There are no ,good, and ,bad guys, as in real life. That gives more believability to the series. I would like to praise all the cast and crew but that would take several pages... I will focus on Eleni, performed by Mrs Kitsou. Eleni is the symbol of the eternal greek woman, a woman with strong character, dynamism, and initiative. Her appearance, reminds us of an ancient Caryatid. Her main antagonist, Doukas Sevastos, performed by Mr Kakouris, the land lord that covets her land for an upcoming industrial zone, is an imposing figure with a deep voice, an iconic character that reminds us gangster movies. He is an enforcer of murders performed by his henchman Meletis and his late son Sergios. He keeps secrets even from his sons and his adulterous wife Myrsini. The greatest secret of all, is the forgery of his father will, a secret with devastating consequences if ever revealed.... I will stop my review here. The characters are many, the story long, the plot twists endless... I could write a whole new book with that amazing series as a springboard. For me is something unprecedented, since I am a cinema lover and never before have I watched a series with so many episodes. That is the most important thing about the series. It can captivate assorted audience.... I want to congratulate the creators of the series for the gift they offered us.....

A masterpiece! Everyone should watch it! Highly recommended!!

We've waited so long for such an amazing series production, with lots of young talents having long theatre experience! Worth watching !

Agries melisses is a show that changed my daily routine the last three years. It was that addictive to me😂. The amazing plot and the extraordinary cast made a legendary serie that changed greek tv forever. All three seasons were absolutely amazing!! I would definitely watch it again and of course I recommend it to everyone! I loved this show so much and I have to say that it was the best company during quarantine!

💕❤🐝🐝

After the death of their father,his three daughters have to confront the wealthiest man in their village(Doukas), who wants to buy their fields. Doukas' son, Sergios decides to marry the oldest daughter(Eleni) so his family will get the fields. Eleni works really hard in order to keep their property but after too much pressure by Doukas and many financial problems she gives in and decides to marry Sergios. This event will change everything in the life of the three daughters.

"Wild Bees" is a Greek series about three farmer sisters who live in a small, fictional village in the Thessalian flatland in the late 1950s. The story begins with the three heroines murdering the elder's husband when he tries to rape his wife and her sisters in their wedding night.

Well, it seems pretty harmless and quite interesting, right? Wrong. Oh, God, we were so wrong to believe in that.

Let's see Problem No1: The plot. The TV-show starts and when you watch the 10 first episodes you think: "I might like that, it's nice". After those 10 episodes comes the downfall. The plot is gone, vanished, like there has never existed. Things happen in this village that are so irrelevant, nobody seems to care, the "investigation" on Sergios' death (the rapist) is such a joke... I almost persuaded myself that season 8 of Game of Thrones was excellent and flawless in front of this TV-Show. And it is. Unfortunately. I hoped that Greek productions were about to get serious and create something beautiful and meaningful with depth and structure. Well, they didn't. To sum up, there in no plot and that's frustrating.

Problem No2: What Characters? If the characters in Tommy Wiseau's "The Room" are ridiculous and disgusting then I don't know how to describe the characters in "Wild Bees". When the TV-Show begins you have a handful of characters who can evolve, become something exceptional and represent the darkness of human nature. Nevertheless, the three sisters and their peasant sidekicks (or the other villagers) have no personality, no reasonable motifs, nothing interesting triggers them and makes them 'hunt' their needs. They remain as they are, you don't witness some kind of character development. Instead, they seem to follow a very safe path of choices, they make decisions that are very predictable and if you look closely you'll notice that the screenwriters cater to the audience's desires. You didn't see that coming, did you?

Problem No3: Directing & Soundtrack Oh God, if I could say more I would have written a book about this TV-Show's errors. When it comes to the direction all I can say is this: What. The. Hell. The direction is so disappointing. On the one hand, you have this vintage, sepia, brownish filter, those nice shots in the fields and the oldest sister Helen (played by Mary Kitsou) riding on her white horse and you can sense the wildness surrounding her. Then, suddenly, the director throws on your face a stupid blue light with a blurry white glow which are there all the time as if someone blew on the camera lens. There is nothing special here, only a blunt shot that is thrown before you almost unedited. Really, it's irritating. But do you know what's more irritating? The fact that I believed in this TV-Show. Let's talk music now. In the beginning there are so much to pay attention to that you don't even realize that the soundtrack is not even there. Some moody and playful tunes are put here and there. Actually most of the soundtrack is the theme song slightly altered in order to fit into each scene. If you have the courage to watch 30+ episodes -as I did- out of curiosity then you'll start to notice some new and interesting tunes but until then do not expect something that will stick to your head and murmur it while driving at work - it will probably be the theme song but after a while you'll get bored of it, especially if you live in Greece and open the radio only to listen to this a hundred times a day. Once again, you'll be disappointed by the soundtrack as well.

Problem No4: Acting. It is said that Greek actors are among the most respectable and professional in the world and I believe that. In "Wild Bees" you can see some new and old actors playing and their acting is bearable. However, some of the actors are really good considering the ambience of the TV-Show. Though the actresses who impersonate the three sisters are mediocre and the lead actress Mary Kitsou who plays the elder one (Helen) is far greater on stage. Leonidas Kakouris impersonates the wealthy landowner and his acting is pretty pleasing as much as Katerina Didaskalou who plays his wife Myrsine. In my opinion, the greatest actor in the TV-Show is George Gallos who not only manages to move the audience but he embodies his character brilliantly. He definitely carries the can and saves the day with his acting skills. Some notable mentions are Andrew Konstantinou who plays Sergios and unfortunately he had a small part, Pavlos Orkopoulos who plays Nestoras is a remarkable figure in the Greek scene of visual arts and George Gerodikakis who plays Meletis the errand boy and legal ward of the wealthy family. The rest is not to be mentioned.

I could go on and on but it's worthless. There are so many episodes to be released and it's pointless to write about a TV-Show which gets worse instead of getting better. There are some artists who deserve recognition but as a whole the series sucks. All I can say as a summarization is this: Go watch "Eteros Ego" the film and the series and you'll be astounded by the abilities Greek television and cinema have.

The best Greek TV Series of 2019!! Simply great! Congratulations!

The script refers to the past, but raises issues such as patriarchy, women's empowerment, metoo, femicides in a way so current that it helped several female and male victims of metoo to come forward and report them.

The direction, the original music and the script gave the impression that each episode was a movie and not a 3 year series with 4 episodes a week.

The performances of the actors (most of whom were theater actors with years of experience) gave the impression of a modern drama with the intensity of an ancient Greek tragedy. The main protagonists left us speechless with their performances, with complex characters and well-written roles, with day-by-day development, changes and twists from the first to the last episode that keep your interest undiminished, something you don't expect to meet in a series that lasts 3 years with 420 episodes. The over 400 actors who took part were all chosen specifically for the role they would play after many castings and they were all ideal, talented and most experienced even in roles of a few episodes only that gave value to every character that passed through the series however short it was.

The sets did not resemble a set, since for the first time an entire village was set up for a series and the exterior shots, which were the majority, gave the impression that we are really seeing a rural village in the Greek plains in 1960, with its fields and crops and of course the clothing contributed impressively to this.

The script also in season 3 focused on the 1967-1974 dictatorship in Greece, a historical period so painful for all of us that no series had dealt with it until now. With a realistic depiction of the exiles, the tortures, the demonstrations and the struggles of the people to regain freedom of expression and life, Democracy.

Of course, we should not forget that apart from the great ideas and ideals that the script illuminated, the story is full of crimes (unsolved and not), criminals (punished and not), loves (unfulfilled, condemned, illegal, absolute and eternal), that one came after the other with speed, mastery and masterful technique, which only a daily series did not resemble.

It was like watching a masterfully made movie on a daily basis, with the best conditions. It was a miracle to collaborate the idealized combination of the screenwriters with the director and the songwriters, with their original songs that were specially written for each scene (all popular now🎶), as well as to choose the right actors in the right positions, which once in 30 years you can meet (if you're lucky)... P. S.: Don't miss it (and beware: it's highly addictive, if you start it you'll watch it again and again from the beginning many times in the future...) 😉🐝🐝🐝

ONCE again a case of get wokeee gone brokenn .

Has lost any meaning and realism , doesn't even represent the 60's in a realistic way !

The last couple years, the Greek TV had 3-4 amazing shows, like this one, the "Olive's Land" and "Sasmos".

I started watching this instead the other two, because those two were in modern times; this one, was focus in the old Greece (50s, 60s, 70s) and I love the old times...

...The show is very good. Most of the actors are perfectly fit to their roles - some are not, some are not good enough, but the actors for the most of the key-roles (which are A LOT of them) are great. The great thing of this show is exactly that - is not focusing in 3-5 characters. The set is in a small Greek village and ALL villagers are key-roles! You're not getting boring by watching one or two stories, you watching two dozen different stories, all bound together.

Of course, the MAIN characters are the three orphant sisters, the "Wild Bees" (as the title says). But, like I said, there are so many equal big stories or smaller stories (from the other village's characters) and you're not getting bored at all.

The 1st Season was GREAT, by all means. The 2nd was "okay", because I really didn't like much the (a lot) prison sequences - I know, since the one of the main-lead characters was in prison, we should following her story in the prison, but I didn't like the prison scenes too much. But also, because the scenario started been quite "childish", without much REALISM. The 3rd season's story was much better of all (because the events, the Greek Dictatorship), but generally was the worst about REALISM! It was really funny, not dramatic!!! Obviously, the script-writters didn't lived in that dramatic period (dictatorship) but also didn't study much or didn't asked about that period. We have... simple citizens ATTACKING or CURSING high rank military officers (when... there was military dictatorship)!!!! We have corrupted powerful citizens (Akilas) not giving a damn against high rank officers or gonverment's people. We have SIMPLE POLICEMEN don't giving a damn against... SECRET SERVICE's officers!!!!!! And the list goes on and on... Obviously the script-writters didn't knew at all HOW POWERFUL WAS A SIMPLE MILITARY POLICE SOLDIER (!!!) against a Police Director!!!... Or, how IMPOSSIBLE was any citizen (even with power, like a village mayor) to even SPEAK LOUD against a military officer!!! So, although I enjoyed it I didn't gave 10 stars or more, because although the producers tried to "portrait" the 50s/60s/70s, they succeed it about 70%. First, the actors were speaking modern Greek (like we speaking today); the Greeks of 60-70 years ago, they were speaking much different!

Also, the clothing were nice (quite fitting to the old times), but they could done better - some characters wearing almost modern clothes in some scenes.

Not mention the three key-roles (the "three wild bees" sisters) - especially HELEN - which they don't giving a damn against authorities, officers, police, military personel... and nobody throwing them in the jail on the spot!

The MOST NEGATIVE thing of this show (which I didn't gave 10 stars) is... the 50s/60s/70s in Greece were EXTREMELY VERY HARD years (in politics, in society, in History general). A LOT things (very important) happent in these 3 decades; and the show simply by-passing them VERY quickly, VERY fast, without giving the correct importance they deserved.

The show starts in 1958, JUST FEW YEARS after the Greek Civil War, with the entire Greek population SO suffered from WW2 and that Civil War. And after that, in the middle of 60s, we had EXTREME political situations (and a DICTATORSHIP, in 1967!!!) and in early of 70s we had a short (few days) WAR with Turkey!!!!! The show fails (a lot) to focus on those VERY IMPORTANT events...

Generally, I liked it and I'm suggesting it, but it's not SO PERFECT as they're talking about it.