How many people actually knew Netflix HAD an original series?
Lilyhammer, a new original series by Netflix is available on their streaming service. I was quite interested in Netflix’s methods, but it begs the question, not only how well did the show rate via numbers for the film and tv provider but furthermore how is the show itself?
Lilyhammer, starring The Sopranos’ Steve Van Zandt as Frank ‘The Fixer’ Tagliano, features Zandt’s Tagliano as a former member of the New York mob. After testifying in a trial in the United States, Tagliano is relocated to Lillehammer in Norway through the FBI's witness protection program. Frank Tagliano was intrigued by Lillehammer when he saw television images of the 1994 Winter Olympics, and therefore chooses to start his new life there. The transition from being a feared and respected gangster in New York, to become an unemployed immigrant in Norway, is not simple. Frank discovers that to get up and in the Norwegian rural society, he must resort to the old, ruthless methods.
What is great about Netflix’s first original series is that the ENTIRE series is available to watch. But being this is a tv show, I thought I’d watch and review two episodes at once every week.
The first two episodes of the new series, ‘Reality Check’ and ‘The Flamingo’ are actually quite quaint and charming for a show about a goodfella in Norway. While the typical stuff (for those who like mob-films) is present, the show is more laid back and askewed, which is refreshing. The first episode or pilot, also called ‘Reality Check’ does seem a bit dry. Yet despite seeming dry, at a further look, the show is not just meandering, but it’s taking it’s time. When the FBI ask Frank where he wants to go and he tells them Lillehammer, they are stumped. And you as a viewer are as well; while in theory Lillehammer is far enough away that it’d make sense to go that far away, but yet, you’re in the middle of Norway, which is, as the media and wikipedia and everyone else tells us, is really frickin’ cold.
And cold it is. Frank- er, Giovanni who goes by Johnny by all his new friends, doesn’t adapt well to the cold, and also has problems adapting to his new life that doesn’t involve using his old wise-guy antics to help the locals but also help himself.
While the pilot ‘Reality Check’ seems slow and meandering, which in terms of general plot of the episode is really about killing a wolf (you read that right, as apparently it’s against the law to kill a wolf in Norway, even if it’s terrorizing or trying to kill you) the show has a method to it’s madness, and by episode two, ‘The Flamingo’ things really start to go from simmering to boiling as we are introduced into a biker gang, and some shady deals Johnny agrees to, as a way to help his local friends and his new bar he is trying to open. If anything, I would say that Lilyhammer is almost like if you take Zandt’s Silvio from The Sopranos and put him in the town of Market Shipborough from Stephen Fry’s Kingdom, but covered in snow. I would advise caution though, as the show does feature a lot of Norwegian language, which for me, was fine (actually it was refreshing to find not everyone magically began to speak English) but for some it could be a turn-off.
Overall, if this is what Netflix is going to continue* to provide to us, meaning, shows like Lilyhammer, then color me excited.
(*) Lilyhammer has already been greenlighted for season 2.
But what do YOU think, examiners?
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