Were you late to the ‘Love/Hate’ (RTE1) party? Were you addicted to the Gangland mayhem, scheming and betrayal? The series has had the Irish public gripped for much of the last two months and Sunday’s finale pulled in over a million viewers. The featured world is, fortunately, an alien one to most viewers. However the geography will be all too familiar to most Dublin viewers and there are many ‘no-go’ areas where ‘thetvreviewguy’ would, er, not go. ‘Love/Hate’ has been praised for its gritty realism…we see the after-effects of a killing, the rat-like cunning of the main protagonists and how crime does pay for some ‘Crims’ but causes misery in their local communities and beyond. There’s big hope that the series will be adapted for the US market and while it has been remarked on that there aren't enough episodes – six, compared to 24 in a flagship American production – there is potential for a franchise across the Pond. Aiden Gillen and Robert Sheehan and Ruth Negga have been outstanding and Stuart Carolan’s writing has been from the top drawer throughout. The brutality of the criminal underworld should come as a surprise to nobody and Carolan shines a light onto all the dark and scummy areas of the subculture. Would make a nice box set as long as you’re not offended by the word ‘geebag’.
No comments:
Post a Comment