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Deutschland 89 (2020)
I was expecting something better
The final season of Deutschland isn't bad. It's worth watching. But it could be so much better. Since it's set in the aftermath of the Fall of the Berlin Wall, one of the most important political events of the late XX century, Deutschland 89 had the potential to be better than both Deutschland 83 and 86. But, at best, it was as good as '86, and surely didn't achieve the level of '83. And why?
Well, first of all, the vast number of subplots that contributed nothing to the main story and added nothing to the drama. For example, the subplots of Tina, Tobias or Fritz were absolutely useless. Perhaps we got the opportunity to know a little more about the characters and see how they were doing, but... what else? What was the relevance to the show? Why should I be interested? How do they affect the main story? They don't!
'89 was clichéd, predictable and often felt rushed. A lot of things didn't make much sense and weren't convincing. Overall, I consider the writing of this season was quite poor. And that's such a pity, because this could have been a very great season. Instead, we got something good, but just that.
I don't regret watching this season, but I am quite disappointed, because I really expected '89 would be at least as great as '83 and hoped it could even be better. However, it turned out that '89 is as good as '86, at best.
7/10
Deadwood (2004)
A masterpiece - almost perfect
Contrarily to many other TV shows, Deadwood does not seek to romanticize history. It portrays the harsh reality and what people are able to do in the pursuit of their own interests. People are evil, they kill and get killed, they get their fingers chopped out, they have dubious intentions, they conspire to get what they want, they are violent.
One thing I loved about Deadwood was the constant swearing. You won't see it in any other TV show. And this is one of the aspects that makes Deadwood so good and realistic. The people who wrote and produced this masterpiece were not afraid of offending the spectators; they just portrayed reality as it is. Much people are wicked, evil and ruthless, though they may be well-intentioned sometimes. This is not the typical TV show where you have the good and the evil, black and white; characters are complex and not like the typical evil villain or the good hero.
I believe Al Swearengen is one of the most complex and perhaps the best TV show character that has ever existed. Not only does Ian McShane give a magnanimous performance, Al Swearengen is the most obvious portrayal of what I've just said: a evil man, who kills or orders people to be killed, and also a brothel owner. Yet, he may be a selfless person sometimes, and he has the courage to fight the powerful Hearst and stand up for the town.
Of course, all of this was possible due to the fantastic writing of the TV show. Ian McShane and many other actors may have delivered a great performance, but it wouldn't be so great without the awesome writing of this series.
Overall, I think this is one of the best TV series ever made.
9,5/10
Auga Seca (2020)
A great surprise
As a Portuguese, I'm used to the boring, repetitive and cringy TV shows/soap-operas produced and broadcasted in Portugal.
"Auga Seca" was a great surprise for me. It has a good, interesting and coherent script and a unexpected ending for the story. Honestly, I believe this miniseries's quality is not that far from the much more expensive and popular American/British crime dramas such as Sharp Objects or Broadchurch.
HBO had made a good decision by deciding to broadcast this miniseries. I would recommend you to watch "Auga Seca", especially if you're Portuguese,as I don't remember the last time a TV show this good was produced in Portugal.
Rome (2005)
Could easily be a 9 or a 10
There aren't many TV shows set in Ancient Rome, which makes "Rome" an unique series. I loved the representation of ancient Rome and Egypt.
The show follows the lives of the people from both the upper classes and the lower classes, something I believe contributes to show us how it was like to live in Ancient Rome.
I know that this TV show wasn't supposed to be a doccumentary, so I don't think the show producers had to portray the exact events that happened. Some events and characters represented in "Rome" never occurred or were changed. Nonetheless, the main ones where correctly portrayed.
Despite that, I believe some minor historic details didn't need to be changed. Moreover, there are some minor plot holes and inconsistencies.
For example, in the second season, I felt there were some big jumps in the chronological time between episodes and, while, some characters seemed to change a lot as years passed, others remained the same.
Moreover, and I know this is one of the most expensive TV shows ever made, but I was hoping there would be more battles. The only real action we see is in the Battle of Philippi. When you look at Vikings, for instance, you see much more action.
Because of this inconsistencies, I can't rate this series 9 or 10, though it deserved it for the amazing and absolutely unique representation of ancient Rome and Egypt.
The Pillars of the Earth (2010)
Very good, but could be better
I loved Tom Builder and Waleran Bigod. Their actors had amazing performances. Overall, I liked the show and it makes justice to Ken Follett's book.
Nonetheless, I must criticize some aspects. First, I believe the show could have had more episodes. As it was based in the 2 volumes of the historical novel wrote by Ken Follett, which in my opinion is possibly one of the best books ever written, I felt that many events of the original story were ignored and the Tv show produced was too short.
8/10
Chernobyl (2019)
Stunning and unprecedented
HBO may have failed us in Game of Thrones, but they couldn't have done better in Chernobyl.
It is perfect. This show is much more than the Chernobyl accident itself. It is about an authoritarian and decadent regime. It is about the conflicts between scientists and specialists, whose priority is solving the problem and minimising the harm done to the people, and the party burocrats, who only care about damage control and saving the image of the Soviet Union.
The Soviet daily life is perfectly represented. The ugly Soviet apartments, the cars, everything could'nt have been portrayed better. Moreover, the soundtrack fits perfectly.
10/10
Taboo (2017)
Amazing performance by Tom Hardy
Tom Hardy's performance as James Delaney is one of the best ones I've ever seen on TV. Looking at Hardy's evolution since Band of Brothers, where he played the role of Private Janovec, it's impossible not to notice how he has changed through the years. His brilliant performance, though, isn't the unique aspect that makes Taboo a great TV series.
The plot is intriguing, and it's interesting to see how James Delaney cleverly protects his interests against the powerful Americans, English and East India Company.
Besides, the portrayal of the London of the beginning of XIX century couldn't be better.
9/10
Band of Brothers (2001)
Masterpiece
I have seen many TV series so far and I must say this is probably the best one I've ever seen. BoB coudn't be more realistic and perfect. This men's heroic sacrifice was perfectly portrayed in this unique Tv show. 10/10
The World at War (1973)
The best doccumentary ever made
This is the most complete doccumentary I've ever seen. An absolute masterpiece that covers every single aspect of WW2. 10/10