Shtorm

Since the late Soviet Union cops and gangsters series keep a nice share in TV shows produced in Russia. Traditionally these shows tell stories about "crime romantic" or brave policemen fighting bad guys with too little or even no respect to reality. "Shtorm" (Storm) offers a new approach to this genre, depicting Russian reality as it is. Society being devoid of state-imposed soviet guidelines has to develop its own principles of justice and what is fare. This is a time of heroes with blue-orange morale. They're not good, not bad---just people living in a world where money and power mean everything.

On a technical level this show is well-done and well-acted. Plot is complicated enough to be interesting and motivation of the characters is generally clear. Music score is great. I re-watched many scenes just enjoying how well melody fits the moment. Main actors did a great job portraying detectives and dirty businessmen. Their performances just make you believe you're looking at real people. Supporting characters are OK, but their story lines sometimes feel like fillers or something not so important to the plot.

Overall, I recommend this series as a quite good crime drama and some kind of a mix between Scandinavian and Western mystery shows. Also, one can find here a realistic snapshot of modern Russian society.