Hunters

Look, I'm not a Trump supporter so just forget about that right now. No politics involved here, I just don't think this show is very good. The Nazis are such over the top cartoon supervillains that it's hard to take them at all seriously. This is made painfully clear from the very first extremely over the top scene. The tone is all over the place. Sometimes it seems like they're going to take the subject matter very seriously, but more often than not it starts leaning into a weird mix of comic book movie (and no I don't have a problem with comic book movies) and some kind of weird parody of exploitation films. It's all very campy, over the top, and packed with comic book references for some reason. The protagonist kid's introductory story even feels like a superhero origin story.

I don't know, I guess I was just expecting something more serious here. Something dark and disturbing like Mindhunters. This feels more like some producer at Amazon said "people loved The Boys. Let's make it more like that!" and it just doesn't feel like it fits with this subject matter. Sorry, it's not for me *shrug*

5/10

1. Those of us who lived through the 70s can attest: YES. The clothes, the cars, the hair and sideburns, YES they were really that over the top. In hindsight, it all looks ridiculous, but even the executives in my Dad's branch of General Electric were sporting the polyester leisure suits, the gold chains dancing in their chest hair, and those godawful white patent leather shoes and belts. I'd go into home devote and the peak of avocado appliances, but the memories are just too horrifying.

2. For those who keep asking, "What's with all the comic book references?" Do you not know where when and how the superhero comic genre was born? Just take a look at the names of the originators: Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, Will Eisner, Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg), and Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber). All Jews who began publishing their stories with the rise of the Third Reich. A people who needed very much to believe in good people with extraordinary ability to right the world's wrongs. The parallel is brilliant.

I quite enjoyed season 1, and would rate it at 7-8. I thought it was well done, thought provoking etc. I was quite looking forward to season 2. Season 2 was disappointing, almost from the beginning I had to push myself to watch. There are many episodes that have way too many guns, and shooting - likely to try to appeal to a certain audience, that is not me. (it was like a Rambo action movie or full metal jacket - except not in times of war, to the point it became ridiculous). Only a few episodes of season 2 stood out to me (eg the house). I gave up in the end as couldn't focus and it became an effort in the end. Al Pacino does a good job though.

I am not good at reviews. I really enjoyed the show.

The negative thing that stood really out for me is the "german" language used in the show. That is not german.

If you are german and watching this in english, listening to the pseudo-german spoken in the show is almost unbearable. Most (mostly all) german sounds like if amercian actors had learned some approximative phrases by heart, without knowing what they are saying.

That makes it sometimes ridiculous, but overall kept my enjoyment still very high. Would have been higher with real german voices.

I know that people who don't understand german wouldn't notice and so will have no impact on them.

If you can suspend the most basic common sense and stop wondering why not a single agent of CIA, Brits, Mossad, KGB, etc. Ever turn up, not even at the very end, you can enjoy the show, although with a bit of help from the fast forward button in some sappy parts.

But, buried deep inside this mediocre series, there is a gem, a brilliant episode that shines bright and stands so tall on its own that I believe most of those who have watched it will call it one of the greatest episodes of TV in the last couple of years- The Home, the 7th episode of 2nd season. If the entire show had that tone, vibe, atmosphere, and those Wes Anderson-ish colors/symmetries, the series would have been an instant classic. Do not miss that episode. One can even watch it without watching anything preceding it as it's a stand-alone episode (though you will see a big spoiler at the very end).