This one might have been great if it had been 5 or 6 episodes, instead of 8. Not that it's bad. The acting and cinematography are both excellent. Alex Wolff and Thea Sofie L. Næss do great jobs in the lead roles. The visuals and period details are beautiful.
However, as so often with shows nowadays, the material is stretched out, meaning too much repetition.
Plus, the episodes too often end abruptly, not really being stories of their own. A series isn't meant to be just a long movie divided up. See "The Crown" and you'll know what I mean. In "So Long..." the exception is Chelsea Hotel, by far the best episode. The two last ones, penned by Jo Nesbø, are in general the best. The dialogue also picks up here and becomes more realistic and witty.
If you're a fan of unhappy love stories or, like me, the inimitable Leonard Cohen, you might enjoy this. Just be aware that this is a young, hormonal, and immature version of Cohen. I always argue you should never have idols - you'll be disappointed - but this made me realize I had put him on a pedestal as the quintessential Good Person. Turns out he was a human being.
The series follows young Norwegian Marianne Ihlen as she travels to a Greek island with her husband, a lying, abusive, womanizing artist. She then leaves him for a sweet, depression-prone, womanizing artist. Oh, and both guys keep leaving her, a LOT.
They leave her and come back, Leonard plays with Little Axel and says something lofty, their friend Charmian talks dramatically about her wasted life, Leonard gets advice from Stellan Skarsgård. Repeat.
Seriously, the play scenes are cute, but half of them could have been cut. Same with Charmian's monologues. I missed actually seeing what she talks about, as well. Several times she says the local islanders have started to hate the foreign bohemians, but we never see it.
Along with this they all consume an unbelievable, ridiculous amount of cigarettes, drugs, and alcohol. I know there really was a lot of drug use, but this veers into parody. It's a wonder these people didn't die of acute poisoning.
To sum up, it's a decent show which, with some cuts, better pacing, and slightly better dialogue, could have been really great.
