inc-133-70013

That was pretty nice surprise, I'd say. Think "Designated Survivor", but way less dumb.

US is hit by a massive cyberattack, and a charismatic ex-president picks up the bill in head of a powerful commission to find the culprits.

While "super virus" was a bit dumb (despite actors spouting very competent and relevant tech terms every now and then, indicating actual IT experts were involved, which I really like), and... It's Robert De Niro. Of course he gave a stellar performance and every other actor on the set a lesson or two.

I liked the whole show and I also liked that it's not too long. Of course, there was a bit too many "looking over yonder, worry and wonder" moments, but such filler is pretty much standardized for steaming platform shows nowadays.

Rest read like a good novel.

Despite few pretty charming leads, and pretty simplistic setup, this movie is not going anywhere in its 2 hour run.

I waited and I waited and I waited and I waited. Just half a hour left to the end and still nothing of any significance, let alone THRILLING had happened.

Characters just blabber and walk and blabber, the whole conspiracy is never explained very well, the motivation is questionable at best and the story is too simple to justify such buildup (to nothing) in any form or way.

It's filmed really well, and I hoped to see a good European crime thriller to refresh my palate, but Squad 36 definitely isn't one.

This show, for me, came under a radar. Felt like yet-another "spycraft for bored housewives with handsome young lead", but the show is actually pretty good. It falls into some sort of very comfy area between dark themes spy thrillers usually have, and light-hearted comedic takes of the genre.

It's funny, but not a circus, it's serious, but not suffocating, it's light, but not dumb and there's about enough of busy movement on screen so it's not just faces talking to each other for 8 hours.

Main character is also played very well, with "Ozark" or "Breaking Bad"-style of clumsy guy, who every now and then figures a difficult situation out and stands for his solution with full force, surprising the viewer.

I quite liked season 1, the characters are excellently written, the plot, while implausible, is still quite exciting, and it doesn't waste your time with feelings or boring flashbacks nearly whatsoever.

Recommended.

Then there's Season 2. And whole thing just needs a flush button. The story is now so implausible that it's cringy to watch; both CIA and NIS (Korean secret service) are reduced to a weird circus, everyone's just casually out to kill everyone else. The final nail in the coffin is last episode, which supposedly takes place in Russia. Except only "Russian" thing in whole setup is slightly-Russian-looking license plate, BDU's in Russian camo and few rubber AK's.

There's stomach-churning scene where Owen breaks onto "Russian houseboat" (houseboats are NOT a thing in Russia), which very much looks like not a houseboat, but a very Canadian cabin, complete with very western luxury and switches-outlets. And proceeds to kill two soldier-looking guys there. Just because... burglary-double-murder for no good reason is cool I guess? And Russian soldiers casually share a luxurious cabin? In other words, disconnect from any form of reality has became so huge that entire show just starts doing random violence.

Whatever little felt nice in season 1, is cashed in by tenfold from you and replaced with insulting stupidity in season 2.