Holding

I've only seen 3 episodes so far as that is all that is streaming in Australia, but I really like it! It's comedic and lighthearted but still deals with serious topics and has some good drama. The acting is good, the characters are flawed and realistic. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest - I might leave another review once I'm done just in case I change my mind!

No ok it's not the best thing ever. But it was a pleasing mystery with great characters and splendid acting from the leads.

I'm wondering what the problem is with some people. So you can't please all the people all of the time and everyone has different tastes. Fair enough. But it appears to me that everyone who complained about 'woke ', 'virtue signalling' and 'shoe horning in characters' were seeing things that just aren't there. No it wasn't all 'white men bad' women all good. Hardly. There were a couple of lovely male characters especially PJ who had his demons for sure but came up trumps at the end. And not all the women were noble and strong. How anyone can come to that conclusion is beyond me.

One reviewer wondered why many high ratings reviews criticised the low reviews. Was it because so many appear to be misogynist, racist or homophonic perchance?

I'm only up to episode 3 and it's dangerous to review modern thrillers before the final episode because they usually fall apart. One thing that stands out in Holding is that the actors are given the opportunity to act. Episode 3 is worth watching just for the scene where Brenda Fricker's character talks about her past. Better than average (so far).

I read in one review that the accents were wrong. Really? Which? Protagonist is from the north east. One PC is Dublin. Several have authentic Cork with natural lilting inflection. Not everyone in a town will be born there y'know.

Brenda Frickers ' monologue', a masterful lesson in unraveling a history. Again, so authentic I could be listening to my mother/aunt/elderly friend.

Woke? Pffft. Wake up and look beyond the obvious and you might find gold.

I loved how this gave a real sense of rural Ireland and its people and quirks. Coming from this environment and culture I can testify to the verisimilitude, and my Irish Mammy says the same, so it must be true!