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mstangescu
Reviews
Clanul (2022)
Good concept for a thriller sadly transformed into a soap opera
This show's premise takes the main idea from The Departed (which in fact was the American version of Infernal Affairs) and goes a step further by making the two main protagonists long lost brothers.
While the idea in itself is interesting, this show betrays the thriller nature of its inspiration and quickly becomes an over the top soap opera. This is by far the main problem with Clanul: instead of constructing solid drama and delivering good plot twists it is very slow in changing anything and tries to milk every situation for exaggerated effect.
That being said, there are talented actors in this show whom I enjoy doing their thing. In particular Mr. Ivascu's portrayal of Pelicanul is quite fun to watch. He mostly carries the comedic burden of the show alone on his back as a prototypical small-time crook whose main occupations are kissing the boss's ass, showing off in front of the one guy below him and always being a few minutes away from enjoying a nice spread of pretty basic food.
This show could've been great if it was done as a thriller instead of a soap opera and if the writers weren't so afraid of giving the game board a massive shake once every few episodes.
As it stands, I can't rate it higher than a 5.
The Idol (2023)
Weak acting from The Weeknd but otherwise not that bad
I don't know the backstory behind this show so I won't reference it.
In my opinion the director succeeded in making an illustration of the corrupt and exploitative nature of the music industry.
This is a very sexual show but it makes sense for it to be that way. Jocelyn is a girl grieving over the loss of an abusive mother whose complex pain and confusion is channeled into depraved/exhibitionist sex acts by a pimp named Tedros. Jocelyn embraces this as a way to finally be able to feel something different even though Tedros is clearly using her to promote his artists and interests. Jocelyn's team (Chaim, Nikki, Finkelstein and Destiny) quickly realize something wrong is going on but fail to act because whatever is happening seems to produce artistic results.
In essence, Tedros is able to see talent in a bunch of unknown, poor and profoundly damaged people. He uses his skills as a pimp to teach those people to become a musical version of whores - using their sexuality of attain fame and success. Turns out the end result is a great fit for the music industry.
When thinking about all the scandals in the music industry in the past decade I think this show paints an accurate picture of the ugliness. I would say they even pulled a lot of punches. For those complaining about this show being exploitative or not feminist enough (as if that's a bad thing) I would suggest it's hard to impossible to depict the exploitative nature of an industry without actually showing examples of that exploitation in your show.
FBoy Island (2021)
Interesting idea, gutless execution
While most reality shows choose an unrealistic representation of people as participants, this show goes above and beyond in choosing the most vapid, plastic influencers.
What's worse, though, is that this show doesn't have the courage to be honest or even consistent with itself. It constantly changes its rules to favor the Instagram model females who already have all the power of choice. Even so, they still make all the wrong choices and instead of suffering the consequences the Fboys choose to split the prize money with them because that way they don't damage their social media careers.
Season 2 was particularly insulting due to the ending being engineered at the last moment so that a woman could screw over the guys, then proceeding to compliment herself on how well she played the game even though she theoretically had no foreknowledge of the last minute rule change to allow her to craft a strategy of any kind. Also she at all times had all the power for every minute of the game so her risk factor was 0.
This show wants to be empowering for women but it fails spectacularly while sending the most awful messages possible: that women choose with their vajayjay over their brains, that reformed fboys who take a chance and open up to actually find a relationship get screwed but those who pretend to be reformed can save face by sharing their money with the girl and then dumping them after the show.
Oh yeah, and for a show that considers Fboys bad it's surprising how nobody is even allowed to question the women making out and having sex with dudes left and right. Apparently it's ok when women do it.