Spy/Master

Fictional in a sense, but also inspired by the true events about Ion Mihai Pacepa, the Securitate general from the very top entourage of the (former president of Romania for some, for others the dictator) Nicolae Ceausescu who defected to the U. S. For a few a hero, a traitor for others, from a time when Romania used to be a player on the world stage. The characters and the institution involved in the plot, the KGB, STASI, the Arab terrorists, CIA, BND, and Romanian Securitatate from the '70s gives the story some historical and political weight. The series follows Pacepa's book "The Red Horizons" published in 1988, a year before Ceausescu was killed.

At first, I was a bit confused by the switching from one language to another, but with the subs turned on, it all became clear. I'm not a fan of subtitles, but for me, they were essential and didn't detract too much from the suspense of the storyline.

It's a great spy series and compelling viewing. The characters are believable and well-rounded, the story is interesting and different, and the dialogue excellent - delivered in a great deadpan style that suited the atmosphere.

The whole series knitted together nicely, and it is refreshing to see new-to-me actors doing a great job. The period atmosphere and the settings made the whole thing believable. I particularly liked the fact that the characters were able to project the nervousness of that moment in time.

Loved it and can't recommend it highly enough.

It's an artistic series, not a documentary. They are important details that do not respect the historical truth that deserve to be explored more. The sets and costumes are exceptional, they introduce you to the era but personally I think that the acting is not the best with few exceptions: Ana Ularu (as if the first serie was made for her), Andreea Vasile and Laurentiu Banescu, maybe because it is an international cast. The dialogues are sometimes silly, I feel the actors do not agree with them.

Unfortunately, the actors of the family of the Ceausescu dictators are a disappointment, I did not expect Claudiu Bleont to act so badly. And from the international cast there is no one to remember, maybe Ingrid.

Bottom line: not great not terrible, but I stayed until the end and I'm waiting for the next series, maybe the producer, the director, the lyricist and the actors listen to the reviews and improve the experience.

I stumbled across this series quite by accident and have watched the first two episodes only, but the fact that I bothered to watch the second ep is testament itself to the quality on show, I have no idea what some reviewers expect from a cold war eastern bloc spy drama, lots of super hero's in costumes perhaps or sweary lippy Americans being the best at everything! Who knows, but if you like your spy drama at a sedate pace full of intrigue and suspense then this show should be on your list to watch. The lead actor does a great job as do most of the supporting cast and I genuinely look forward to episode 3 and see where the story takes me!

The true story of Pacepa is much more impressive. I don t understand why the director had to add a lot of non-sense when the trues story is much more impressive. I could say that other than that is a nice high budget small series to watch. The soundtrack is really good and some actors play good. But my good.. how anyone with a ID card can enter anywhere in the US embassy in Germany is truly out of this world. The costums, the cars, the decor, the collors are really awsome. I could add that there is no info about what happend afterwords. And this is very important. Pacepa give to USA not only all the agents of Romania but agents from the comunist block. This was a huge hit to the comunist world. Hundreds being arested. Only about this you could make a movie.