Residue

I have seen this series a few times now and would whole heartedly recommend it for anyone interested in a exciting TV series with interesting characters including Jennifer (played by Game of Thrones star Natalia Tena) and helmed with style by director Alex Garcia (misfits, Utopia).

It's superbly shot with great scale and is a step above recent UK TV releases. The mystery starts with a bang and the action doesn't let up from there. Amidst the chaos lie ethereal entities that could be tricks of the mind. Conflicts and corruption perforate every inch of the world and are a symptom of a society hurtling out of control. It's in this uncertainty that our protagonists are searching for the truth which could take them to the brink!

I won't say any more but suffice it to say I can't wait for the 2nd season!

This show was visually breathtaking. The colour palette in particular was incredible, and even without the intrigue of the plot I would have watched it for aesthetic value alone. I was drawn in by the characters and the grittiness of the setting and subject matter. In fact, this may have even been one of my favourite shows on Netflix. The only (and unfortunately significant) downside is the lack of a satisfying ending. I was genuinely upset when I reached the end of episode 3 only to realise nothing more would follow. Honestly can't remember the last time I was this attached to a show, sad to have to leave it without a sense of closure.

I have watched the first 2 episodes of "Residue" via Netflix and will watch the 3rd episode tonight. The 1 thing that I don't care for and think is totally juvenile is that the main character thinks out loud and then jots the thoughts that we have just listened to on Notepad, or some other word processing software. And believe me, this person is no Einstein! Her thoughts are: "I can't be crazy... this is real!" First we hear her thinking out loud, and then we watch her type her thoughts on her pc. In my opinion, this brings down the entire production. But, I'll watch #3 tonight and see where it leads. I'm already filling in the blanks with an imagination stoked by watching 60 years of science fiction and fantasy TV shows. X-Files, here we come!

I want to start by saying that this is visually and artistically beautiful. The color palette, and the atmosphere is truly great.

The plot is interesting (a random explosion in the middle of a city and a government that is clearly hiding something) and the visual effects are really good. All of the actors give good performances, and though short and slow-paced, its 3 episodes are addictive.

The problem here is that the ending is way too open. It's frustrating, honestly. I think that until this gets a second series, it's not that worth watching, because in the end, you know exactly what you knew when you started the first episode.

Everything here has the potential to work perfectly. It's just incomplete. I'll be glad to watch a second series, if it ever sees the light.

There are two rules to live life by. Number one is never tell anyone everything you know and I feel that this series does a great job in that regard so it keeps you on your seat in that way. Of course, this is sci~fi and it's sci~fi with a little bit of twist. If you're a sci~fi fan then you should enjoy this show.

I have to say that it's set in London, or what looks like London but just in the future. In this regard the location scout did a great job. Thumbs up to them.

Another really good thing about this series is that it keeps you on the edge of your seat with punchy dramatics and interesting narrative style.

There's a girl, a citizen of the future, and she thinks she is going crazy because she has to always think about things and write things down on her PC. Maybe there might be too much by way of plot overlays, I don't think so but I can see why other people might. I have had 30 years of sci~fi experience and this series pressed almost all of the sci~fi buttons, which isn't an easy thing to do on such a low budget.

Onto the budget. This really does look like a million pound show but they didn't have a budget of a million pounds. So well done to the CGI department. There we some FX that I could tell were CGI but all the rest I couldn't so they stitched them in well and the FX helped to push the plot along a lot.

To conclude, I would say that sci~fi fans should give this a go. It has futurist elements which are combined well with current social issues and its social currency pays for itself in keeping with modern times. The lighting is amazing and you will really feel teleported into the future. Big thumbs up to the director for this.