La bonne terre

The subject matter of the show was interesting and the acting was all really good but it felt like the writers tried to jam in as many conflicts as possible into every episode. It made it overly stressful and annoying to watch and distracted from the important themes of the show. It could have been much more focused rather than forcing a thousand problems into the plot, all created by the characters' terrible decision making and constant miscommunication. This was a missed opportunity for a show/idea with potential. I eventually watched the whole season but it took a while because I was dreading starting each new stressful episode.

The plot of the story is original, but not that very interesting. My interest of Morrocan and Islamic culture is the reason I watched this. The show has a good combination of comedy and drama, however I expected it had more moments that made me laughing a lot, but it dissapointed me a bit.

The main characters Smile (Yassine Ouaich) and JB (Ward Kerremans) togheter forms a wonderful and bromantic duo. They have the funniest moments. Also Rachid (Saïd Boumazoughe) made me laugh and is a person you can both hate and love. Brahim (Tom Vermeir) has a strong character and interesting story. But some characters were too unfinished and boring.

The story went a little long-winded and the finale episode of season 1 (the only season this moment) was for me the weakest. I want to know how it goes further with the main characters, so I hope there will come a second and hopefully a better season.

This original concept is an instant hook to check this show out. There's lots of situational humor here, exploring how this Moroccan family runs their family funereal business within a muslim community in Belgium. Tension between conservative muslim and more westernized traditions sets this up for lots of laughs. It can get a bit heavy-handed in segments, depicting a woman's role and position in both traditions, burial rites, or community expectations. But it turns out that crazy family dynamics, and intimate relationship challenges, are universal truths where ever you come from. There's an endearing code to family-first in this story, that includes more than just blood relations. Would recommend for an easy entertaining diversion.

This is one of the better Flemish series to come out of Belgium. Unfortunately, poor editing leads to a lack of continuity and flow in telling the story in a coherent manner. Sometimes, scenes do not follow one another in a continuous manner and this creates gaps in telling the story. In addition, there are too many subplots, some of which start but then appear to be forgotten, leaving the viewer hanging and wondering why the event was introduced or included in the story line.

If there's a second season, it will be difficult to see where the character development would go without the series becoming repetitive and formula driven.

I was very surprised with this Belgian show. A good balance of comedy, drama.

What I really liked is the conflict between an entire community's way of doing things and a young guy trying to bring a change in mentality while facing the pressure of that same community. It shows very well the resistance to a change. Hope there will be a second season.