Dope Girls

Was looking forward to this one as I enjoyed the book of the same name it was based on. This was a big disappointment though, it was all about agendas and grandstanding and forget about telling an interesting story.

There's more than a hint of Peaky Blinders in it's tone, modern music and sensibilities etc. Stylistically it's great to look at and had decent production values.

That said I'd agree with an earlier reviewer, this is one of the worst recorded shows I've seen in a long time, huge swathes of dialogue were unintelligible.

For me it was killed by it's irritating tone, it's very much of the all women are heroes and all men are zeros school of writing which has now become a really boring trope. The setup was also messy and confusing.

Please just give us interesting characters and stories without endless finger waving.

I didn't make it through the first episode and I think many others will follow suit.

Julianne Nicholson's character has a seriously ruthless streak in "Dope Girls." The series is set in Britain in the aftermath of WWI, and her character is inspired by real nightclub queens selling (then) illegal liquors to customers. I have rarely seen her wield such authority and guile in a role. Her guarded, subtle smile and side-way glances that have served her well in shy wife and girlfriend roles translate surprisingly well to a menacing, murdering callousness, although she maintains tender if complex relationships with her daughters.

Some call this series a spiritual heir to "Peaky Binders," which I have not seen; there are far too many TV shows glamorizing gangsters already. This one is different because it is so women-centric. Her eldest daughter, abandoned early in life, now works in the club and they have a fraught relationship; the youngest is on her way to becoming a sociopath. One central character is one of the first female cops in London, and she is as cut-throat as the rest. They are pitted against corrupt police superiors and cocaine kingpins. Despite the 1910s setting, the style (including modern title cards and inscriptions) is as contemporary as the (im)morality. And "Dope Girls" makes it clear Nicholson's character hates "dopes," unlike too many gangster shows which glorify drug use. Too bad it is cancelled after one season.

Nicholson seems to have parlayed her Emmy award into exciting lead roles. In _Paradise_ she plays a tech tycoon lording it over surviving humanity, and may or may not be the arch villain of that streaming series.

She is plenty tough as a hostage in _Monos_ too. Hard, isolate, stoic, a killer, and so forth. One of the best American actresses finally achieves the recognition and success she deserves. It has happened really late in her career, but is so well deserved.

An excellent drama, with a totally fascinating storyline, great acting and superb dialogue. It manages to be both colourful and murky at the same time. 'Dope Girls' goes some way to blowing away the cobwebs left by the usual stodgy (3 episodes before anything much happens) old TV thrillers. It doesn't have to be factual - it's got a damned good plot. It's hard to pick out one performance ahead of the others; they're all believable and well-rounded. There are scenes that are a bit raunchy but, given the plot and the grim reality of the lives on show here, it's not 'sexy'. I liked the parallel drawn between the obviously villainous and wicked crime family and the obnoxious exploits of the police. Even the central female characters are flawed - there really are no 'good guys'. Having said all that, it's not a 'depressed-fest'. A lot of the camera work is stunning and imaginative, and, as they used to say in the sixties quite 'trippy'!

I didn't even see the title, all i noticed was that it was a Bad Wolf production, so i was hooked in....... Not sure what's happened at Bad Wolf but this misses more than it hits.

Woke from start to finish is probably the best thing i can say about this. The characters are unbelievable, the plot even more so and overall the production seems to have been robbed from 'Peaky Blinders' and put through the wringger.

Now admittedly at the start they say it's a fiction.....well that's the truth. They've taken liberties with just about everything of that period, which is a shame, as you just know the younger generation, (who will end up watching this), will think that's what it was like just over 100 years ago.....here's a spoiler for you...IT WASN'T.

If you manage to make the entire series apply to his majesties government for a medal, you deserve it.

Please Bad Wolf assign this to the bin.

Dope Girls is a fantastic dramatic and complex styling of smart, strong women in deeply repressed brutal environment. It brings dramatic tension to new levels. Hypnotic primitive soundtrack. And an unnerving and uncanny ability to make the existential stories of a past time resonate with contemporary women's experience.