The Vanishing Triangle

Twisty plot contrivances get a little unhinged in final episode, but creepy tone and excellent performances particularly from the two lead actors kept us glued to the screen.

Based on true still unsolved murders, this show depicts a what-if scenario to try to explain the disappearances of missing women in Ireland in the 1990s. The feeling of dread and tension doesn't exactly fit in with Irelands identity as a charming friendly country.

The unique element of the show is that it doesn't just search out the bad guy serial killer. It also shows how the institutions of the time were totally corrupt.

These cliffhanger series endings are becoming far too common and very irritating. Without revealing any spoilers, the viewer should be forewarned. I doubt that with such a low rating there will be another season to tie up the storylines, but I hope at least there would be. But what a disappointment after investing so much time watching this series. Allen Leech is one of my favorite actors, and while I wasn't familiar with any of the other actors, they were all very good, especially India Mullen. This series is supposed to have been modeled after a true story, so it's hard to believe that this was the way the case ended. I guess I can only hope that there will be a second season to find out.

I hate leaving bad reviews, but I don't think words can express just how much I hated this show. The actors' performances were the only good thing about it. But if you just loooove watching every character you care about at all make the dumbest decisions ever over and over and over and over and over again, this is the show for you. And you're welcome to it. At a certain point, you start to want to punch the characters you should be able to like for just being so stupid. I guess having a strong spirit is supposed to make up for being a complete idiot? Is that the message here? I'm rarely motivated enough to leave bad reviews, but truly this is beyond the worst. Kudos to the actors for making it worth two stars. Without their performances it would've been one.

The story, pacing and video side of the production including the acting were very good. However, the overall experience is let down by some rather shoddy sound engineering. Within the first 10 minutes, it should have been obvious to the Director that there was a shortfall. Considering the fact that I grew up in in Dublin and that I had to have sub titles switched on should be indication enough that there was something not so effectively done.

As stated in another review, the sound separation was abysmal for a modern production, even Smart TVs with Dialogue Enhancers and various surround enhancing alternatives did not do enough to help.

The Dublin dialect can be difficult to understand as certain words roll into others so it IS important. The speech coach should have realised this on first review as well and questioned whether it was actors' failings or inadequate sound capture and/or separation.

Interestingly enough, the actor that stands out as being the most articulate is the one who worked on Downton Abbey. Possibly the bigger a production is may demand more resources thrown at actor articulation?

Otherwise, as I said, I found the story very intetesting.

I am a crime writer who has studied the individual cases that are commonly associated with Ireland's so-called Vanishing Triangle.

This show basically just took the phrase and spun it into yet another far-fetched, cliche crime drama series.

It's a cash grab by someone who realised that the title would garner some interest.

Another reviewer said that it is based on true events. This statement is so false that I suspect it was written by someone who is associated with the series.

The vast majority of the women who went missing in Ireland's "Vanishing Triangle" are believed to have been killed by someone who was well-known to them. There is a very strong suspect in each case.

Only two are believed to have been the victim of a stranger abduction.

When I first heard that someone was creating a series called The Vanishing Triangle, I thought that we'd get an in-depth look at the victims and their cases. Or at least a factual dramatisation that accurately represented their stories.

Instead, we got a series about a journalist taking a murder investigation into her own hands and some lad running around in a balaclava.