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Darklands? The new Love/Hate?

The Late Late Show

The upcoming gangland series Darklands on Virgin sounds promising. Will this be another Love/Hate? As a person who enjoyed Love/Hate during its run from 2010 to 2014, I have found Irish gangland set TV has been a little thin on the ground from that period until now. Indeed, no Irish produced TV drama has really caught my attention. The series that caught my attention post-Love/Hate such as The Handmaid's Tale, Peaky Blinders and Better Call Saul (Breaking Bad spinoff) have ALL been non-Irish.

Darklands seems to tick all the right boxes so let's hope this will be a return to form when it comes to Irish drama. That it is not on RTE (of late, RTE have been very squeamish about violence as Taken Down, Striking Out, Finding Joy, Rebellion, etc. have shown) may help. Not getting my hopes up by Darklands does sound like it has potential.

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donkeykong5

rob316 wrote: »

The lead actor is pretty good but the rest is rubbish.

Who is the lead actor?

Yer Da sells Avon

It's not 'Love/Hate' so much as 'Like/Dislike'.

I've seen better acting on Fair City.

The Late Late Show

Have yet to watch but will later in the week. I am not getting my hopes up because I have been sorely disappointed by the tame and bland efforts of recent Irish drama that took on a subject and pretty much ended up ruining it with their restraint. Love/Hate was excellent and did so much with its budget and resources. Along with Breaking Bad, it was my favourite series of this type at the time. Sadly, since then, my interest in Irish drama has been marred by the likes of Rebellion, Can't Cope Won't Cope, Striking Out, Finding Joy and Taken Down, all of which could have been so much better. My interest in good crime drama was instead satisfied by the likes of Peaky Blinders, The Handmaid's Tale, Better Call Saul, etc. which all portrayed their gangland feuds or their hypocritical gangland country (in the case of Handmaid's) excellently in a way the Irish dramas couldn't. And before anyone says 'a good drama does not need to be violent', I agree: I also thought BBC drama Lark Rise to Candleford was excellent once more because it entered its world wholeheartedly and gave us a proper overview of it. But anyways, back to Darklands: I really do hope it is good and will be giving this a chance anyway. It cannot be as disappointing as Taken Down surely or as bad as Striking Out.

The Late Late Show

And with all this MMA theme, is this drama about a certain NOTORIOUS MMA fighter?!?!

gwalk

The Late Late Show wrote: »

And with all this MMA theme, is this drama about a certain NOTORIOUS MMA fighter?!?!

No the fella in it hasnt smacked any pensioners in pubs or raped anyone

Soulsun

Mena Mitty wrote: »

Did I hear it announced both fighters come from the blue corner ?

Yes you did!!!

Mantis Toboggan

gwalk wrote: »

No the fella in it hasnt smacked any pensioners in pubs or raped anyone

Give it time.

Fitz*

I'm also fairly sure that yer man was wearing all red shorts/gloves but was in the blue corner.

[Deleted User]

First 15 mins pure sh1t. So many cliches, so many contrived scenes to suit a very predictable story line, too many tired references to drug dealing.

The first few scenes, particularly the kitchen scene took me back to 1970's/1980's sit coms. Druggie shooting up in the fan, as already mentioned drug manouvres going on in broad day light, where is the realism in that. What's wrong with filming at dusk or at night? Too many technical issues for film crew? Just looked too plain lazy for me. Do they think the viewers are fools?

Scene of the mother at job interview. Stretching it way too far. How old is she meant to be? Father angrily declares "I'm off to the pub" the only thing different here was that he wanted a "Chinese" and not boiled bacon and cabbage.

Slightly interested in how the story involving the young brother will develop but I'd be expecting more of the same.

Won't be winning any awards this one.

Agent Coulson

I see it is written by one of the Westies so it should have some realism to it.

I might check it out if reviews start to look better in the next few weeks.

seamie78

It's a tv series and they can often get off to a slow start, I reckon the show has potential, time will tell whether it's good or not. I wont be making my decision yet. As for all the comments about doing the drug deal in daylight...why not, its hiding in plain sight and actually makes sense to me

GooglePlus

Guns and MMA man, couldn't be bleedin' happier.

[Deleted User]

not surprised that it's

Created by Mark O'Connor, the man behind blockbuster hit Cardboard Gangsters

as with that movie, the characters have about as much depth to them as the thickness of cardboard.

Hoboo

Agent Coulson wrote: »

I see it is written by one of the Westies so it should have some realism to it.

Brother of Shane Coates, but not one of the Westies himself.

Unearthly

What's interesting here is that if you look back at the Love Hate thread it was getting criticised first episode :pac:

[Deleted User]

Unearthly wrote: »

What's interesting here is that if you look back at the Love Hate thread it was getting criticised first episode :pac:

Yes, most pilots lack the quality of the proceeding episodes but Love/Hate had a bit about it.
You had a fairly strong cast for starters who've all gone on to great things. Tom Vaughan Lawlor was brilliant from episode one to the very final episode. This on the other hand is an absolute mess. I expect it to be canned after the first season. Hammy acting all over the shop

[Deleted User]

seamie78 wrote: »

It's a tv series and they can often get off to a slow start, I reckon the show has potential, time will tell whether it's good or not. I wont be making my decision yet. As for all the comments about doing the drug deal in daylight...why not, its hiding in plain sight and actually makes sense to me

If they sack and replace both the writers and some of the cast it might have potential.

mitresize5

loved the fact the tide at the pier was in or out depending on what scene they were shooting, amateur hour!

Man Vs ManUre

Unearthly wrote: »

What's interesting here is that if you look back at the Love Hate thread it was getting criticised first episode :pac:

I watched love/hate episode 1 and was hooked from that very first episode. It was raw, vicious and new fir Irish tv.
I haven’t seen this episode 1 of dark lands yet but I know it will be poor overall purely becos it’s VM and will be a red rock with extra gangland.

The Late Late Show

Man Vs ManUre wrote: »

I watched love/hate episode 1 and was hooked from that very first episode. It was raw, vicious and new fir Irish tv.
I haven’t seen this episode 1 of dark lands yet but I know it will be poor overall purely becos it’s VM and will be a red rock with extra gangland.

I am prepared that this will be poor to mediocre and nothing like Love/Hate. With the MMA theme, it reminds me of Clean Break with its boxing theme. CB was a major disappointment after Love/Hate but looking back on it now, CB was much better than the likes of Striking Out, Finding Joy, Can't Cope Won't Cope and Taken Down that followed.

When a good drama comes on, it will grab you immediately. Dramas as different as Breaking Bad, Lark Rise to Candleford, The Handmaid's Tale, Love/Hate, Peaky Blinders and Dallas all did that for me.

You notice how the Love/Hate cast also did very well for themselves too. They are often in series such as Peaky Blinders and have appeared in numerous films too. Love/Hate could have been the inspiration for numerous offshoots, spinoffs and different types of dramas done with that level of professionalism. Instead, it was a one off and RTE and Irish drama have never equalled it.

The Late Late Show

Deleted User wrote: »

As for its ugly bastard sibling Taken Down

Taken Down has got to have been one of the biggest let downs ever on TV. It was painfully slow, uneventful, full of forgettable characters, full of stupid portrayals of Gardai, completely wasted the talents of Brian Gleeson and the actor who played Gar (the only memorable character, if only he'd have been given more leeway), and was depressing viewing.

It was clear Taken Down was NOT from the same team as Love/Hate despite what RTE said. Jo Spain probably wrote most of it and RTE's powers that be were censoring any extreme violence from it as well. In the end, you got a drama that had no identity. The extreme darkness in every scene, even when yer men were out golfing, gave it a cheap shoestring look as well.

Let's hope Darklands is not as bad as this. It cannot be, can it?!?!?

bodhrandude

Hey Late Late don't forget on Friday, Netflix: El Camino.

[Deleted User]

The Late Late Show wrote: »

Taken Down has got to have been one of the biggest let downs ever on TV. It was painfully slow, uneventful, full of forgettable characters, full of stupid portrayals of Gardai, completely wasted the talents of Brian Gleeson and the actor who played Gar (the only memorable character, if only he'd have been given more leeway), and was depressing viewing.

It was clear Taken Down was NOT from the same team as Love/Hate despite what RTE said. Jo Spain probably wrote most of it and RTE's powers that be were censoring any extreme violence from it as well. In the end, you got a drama that had no identity. The extreme darkness in every scene, even when yer men were out golfing, gave it a cheap shoestring look as well.

Let's hope Darklands is not as bad as this. It cannot be, can it?!?!?

On the basis that Darklands isnt a preachy load of SJW crap, it is better....but only slightly. The acting is hammy, the dialogue is hammy and the storyline seems all over the place.

[Deleted User]

bodhrandude wrote: »

Hey Late Late don't forget on Friday, Netflix: El Camino.

Must watch that myself. Loved Breaking Bad. Is that a follow up movie or series? After the events of Breaking Bad?

brian_t

Deleted User wrote: »

Must watch that myself. Loved Breaking Bad. Is that a follow up movie or series? After the events of Breaking Bad?

El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie [Netflix]

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2058009503

Joe Don Dante

who puts on an MMA fight in the middle of a pub in the middle of the day in a 5ft in diameter cage??? atrocious TV , don't get me started on Freddy the scouse Drug Baron .. F**k me

BoroMan32

Man Vs ManUre wrote: »

I watched love/hate episode 1 and was hooked from that very first episode. It was raw, vicious and new fir Irish tv.
I haven’t seen this episode 1 of dark lands yet but I know it will be poor overall purely becos it’s VM and will be a red rock with extra gangland.

Watched it last night, and thought something similar. It's like a soap with an added bit of supposed menace.

Fully aware the inevitable Love/Hate comparisons will leave most shows like this on a hiding to nothing largely, but that's probably why if you're going to offer up something like this you should at least try to break away from the same old lazy themes.

Will stick with it and hope it improves.

rob316

The school of thought was the Love Hate cast were too pretty to come across as gangsters but if you force it too much you end up with ****e like this. Hammy characters and awful accents.
Love Hate had a core cast of characters you could root for and looked like normal lads and then were supported by proper looking thugs. That way the characters stood out and you could appreciate the acting and character building.

Nidge, John Boy, Darren, Tommy, Frano - all different and unique.

snickers

What was up with the copper with the quasar gun moving like a navy seal and as for the kid just randomly sitting in the back of the van so many holes in this one cant see it improving much although the poor acting and storyline may have some comedy value if nothing else .

freddie1970

I watched it last night and thought it was dreadful..
Is there no acting school in ireland as acting was dreadful..storyline just stupid