Abysmal


Just to think, I wasted nearly four hours of my life watching this. I nearly gave up after the first half hour, but I persevered in the hope it might 'get better.' It didn't.

The pace is killingly slow, and the 'characters' either simply irritating or clichéd. If it was an attempt to copy the best Scandinavian detective thrillers (and it clearly was), it failed abysmally.

After a while, I couldn't care less who had been the past killer or the present killer. Whenever there was a tedious silence between the characters (which was in about two hours out of four) I wearily closed my eyes or glanced at a book, thinking, 'Perhaps, they'll wake up eventually.'

Then I simply began to watch it for the laughs. What was funnier: Duff sitting on a train, getting on a train, getting off a train? Was she getting on or off the ferry? Was she gazing into the sea or into the fields while looking depressed?

Then came the hilariously 'artistic' shots of rain in Manchester, bits of crime scene tape blowing in the wind, or yet another close-up of Duff's eyeballs. The most comic scene of all was the wedding reception, at which Duff, presumably really not taking her anti-depressants now, downed glasses of champagne, insulted the guests, and sexually abused Hinde up against a brick wall. By this time, I felt that I was being abused against another brick wall, this one consisting of bad acting, bad characters, incomprehensible story, and pretentious filming.

'From Darkness' ought to have been titled 'To Gloominess.' (I should have guessed what it was going to be like from the title song: the slow, depressing sort of droning that passes for 'singing' in 2015.)

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After a very unengaging first episode, this did get more watchable. But, it was basically nonsense... Basic police procedure was completely ignored a lot of the time... I believe I'm right in saying that any evidence discovered during either of the two unauthorised searches at the dog sancturary bloke's house wouldn't have been admissable in court... She did steal those medical records from the hospital, didn't she..? And, as for then showing them to the former boyfriend... Like you say, donaldking, their behaviour at the reception was bizarre... The reasoning behind Lucy killing prostitutes needed to be presented rather more strongly - as it was, it felt like someone had just said: "Let's have a female prostitute-killer for a change..." And, the ending was very unsatisfying... They had some good actors, an apparently decent budget and four hours of television to play with - it's a shame they couldn't have come up with a decent script.

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After an appalling first episode it did get better but then again the bar was so low.

I do think Scandicrime has run its course.

It's that man again!!

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ALL Scandanavian crime dramas that I've seen (& I've seen a lot) are far, far much better than this one dimensional, shallow, idiotic, un-engaging, unentertaining crap.

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It was truly awful

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The over-riding feeling I got watching this was that I simply did not believe in any aspect of it. The characters were unbelievable, but so was the dialogue. The way they spoke incessantly in clipped sentences so that every bland sentence had fake drama. The plot was not engaging in the slightest, the clichés were unbearable - everything about this was risible. No tension, no interest, no nothing. Truly awful. And the wet junior policeman was possibly the lamest attempt at characterisation and acting I think I have ever seen. The idea that the police would drag back an ex-officer just because she had suspicions that were ignored a decade earlier is absurd. What a steaming pile.

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Yep, so much of this is dire.
From the premise of needing an ex-colleague to help solve a criminal case, the ex-colleague saying no/ok I'll help/no/ok etc, the storyline of this serial killer restarting their murderous crimes,
But those stupid, shallow story issues can sometimes be forgiven if the story, the acting, the editing, the photography is entertaining!!
This is so far from being entertaining. It's not engaging, none of the characters are interesting enough to care about, the writing is abysmal - no one talks to each other like this, or behaves like this, constantly on one level, with no light and shade to emotion or personality!!
I literally hate it, everything about it. Except the scenery on the Scottish isles.

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Yep it was awful, four hours of my life I'm never getting back.

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This was the best laugh I had all day, just reading your review!! I loved it, thank you :)) I read mostly bad reviews and was about to forget about watching this show, when I saw your review and just HAD to watch and try to find the laughs you mentioned. I'm on it now, will let you know how funny I found it :))

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