Mafiosa is a French TV series that ran for five seasons and deals with the Corsican mafia. The story revolves around Sandra Paoli (Hélène Fillières), a lawyer and the daughter of a mob boss who ends up inheriting most of her family's mafia assets after her beloved uncle is gunned down. Sandra is joined by her hot headed brother Jean-Michel (Thierry Neuvic) in an almost dysfunctional drama with your typical mobster subjects like murders, drug deals, extortion, gambling, etc.
Not quite as violent as Italy's Gomorra, nor does it have the complex characters of HBO's The Sopranos or the historicity of Boardwalk Empire, Mafiosa tends to go back and forth between being a soap opera and a mobster show. Sandra tends to fall in love with the hit men she employs and in the ludicrous first season- shuttles back and forth between being a defense lawyer and mafia queen.
The second season gets better as she finally ditches the lawyer subplot and goes full mob boss and the third season is actually quite good as the stakes go higher. But you just can't help but feel it's a little contrived when Sandra does things that no mobster would tolerate: like giving away information to cops, or dating her soldiers and allowing them to abuse her.
There are occasional side plots with goofy gangsters and family angst with her brother's teen daughter (the very hot Phareelle Onoyan), but on the whole it feels a little too tame for the subject matter its supposed to portray. Nevertheless if you're a fan of gangster shows you might want to check it out, just don't expect to be blown away by it.
