White Lies

Eight episodes is too long for a drama where we dont warm to any character. We get to learn something of modern South Africa, there a high production values,, the acting is good and the location pretty but the direction and story meanders with every possible plot twist employed and many sub plot cul de sacs

Natalie is a great actress but this is her being stroppy on steroids. Her character, super journalist Eddie, is too lucky, stumbling across, everything and everybody she needs and having unbelievable access to all areas. Would a security guard leave his post to accompany her to a dangerous area? There are script issues from the start. Why does a millionaire's son needs a scholarship? The relationship between the odd daughter and handsome son is bizarre and changes with the plot line. The police have to be stupid, corrupt. Damaged and overly forgiving so Eddie can steer the investigation.

It's moderately interesting . You wont miss much by skipping q .an early episode and watching the catch up.

The show starts out with a lot of promise. I thought Natalie Dormer was great in Game of Thrones. Not so much here. In fact all of the characters were very plastic. The premise of the show was good I did not get a sense of who done it until the last episode. My big problem with the show was the two kids. They were so unlikable but maybe that was intentional. On top of that the detective was completely not believable and unlike most cop shows that one sees he was a complete woose, again maybe that is the way he was supposed act. Again, this could have been a good show if the actors were just a touch more realistic.

No much to see in this tv show. Everything you want to see is in the last two episodes. Most contents in first six episodes have nothing to do with the crime, as most are false trails. The show is not just about solving the crime, you can also see how two different characters, Edie Hanson and Forty Bell change throughout the investigation. The show also spends some time on family, mostly, toxic relationships. Some lines are great too. The ending may be very shocked to some viewers. But the background music is a bit annoying. There are some good storylines about family but not too much. Not too much about the characters either. The first episodes give you too many false trails which won't help you with the crime. By the way, good to see Natalie Dormer again.

An equally impressive crime drama series with thrilling storyline and plots, for what is worth, with great acting, especially by Jaime whose sulfurous ego and tempestuous character stood out. She is perfect for Agatha Christie's novels.

The narrative and pace take their time without hastening things, all the while gracing us with that dysfunctional family history in sunny and beautiful South Africa.

The ending and the dancing were well-done and because of that nasty acidic chemistry between Daniel and Jaime, I really hope there's a second season.

• Screenplay/storyline/plots: 7
• Production value/impact: 6.5
• Development: 7.5
• Realism: 7
• Entertainment: 7
• Acting: 7.5
• Filming/photography/cinematography: 7.5
• VFX: 7
• Music/score/sound: 7
• Depth: 6.5
• Logic: 5.5
• Flow: 7.5
• Mystery/thriller/crime/drama: 7
• Ending: 6.5.

Basically I thought the series was good. At halftime it was actually pretty clear who did it or had a hand in it. But it was worth the time to see it through.

But what really caught the eye was the acting/non-acting performance of the actor playing the son.

I kept thinking: Did the director tell him to look so dumb or is that just his natural facial expression? Who is he related to that got him this part? Please never give this young man a part again. Or send him to acting-classes, for five or six years.

The sister was only half as bad, but not really good either.

I liked Dormer, Janks and Daniels, in that order.