Hostage

Did I hate it? No. Would I watch it again? Also no. Nothing really wrong with the show, and it kept me interested enough to see it through. That said, when under review, it really falls apart in an amateurish way. Too many wild plot twists and gaps that felt rushed and uninspired. The ridiculous number of security breaches and oversights made British and French intelligence agencies look like Scooby-Doo. A few characters like the PM's daughter, were incessantly annoying and didn't add anything to the story. I didn't mind the political threads, but they felt tacked on and mostly ended up as red herrings with little connection to the antagonists' actual motives.

All that said, it still managed to entertain me. It's not a show anyone will be talking about for weeks to come, but it's worth a watch if you've got a free night to binge something.

Did it reinvent the wheel, no, was it meant to..... no!

Was it entertaining for a few hours to just sit down and switch your brain off after a long, yes!

I think people have forgotten the art of just relaxing, and just putting on some fluff to pass a few hours, and if everyone thinks that everything has to be high art these days, or written perfectly to meet your unrealistic expectations, you'll never be happy.

I rewatched Avengers Endgame recently, and is dumber than a bag of spiders, but thats just what I wanted that night, and that's one of the highest grossing movies ever made..... this was less dumb, perfect no, completely unrealistic yes, but why does every movie/show now have to meet a bunch of armchair critics expectations or else its "terrible writing", "unrealistic", "worst thing I've ever seen".

You all need to start chilling out, and if something passes sometime for a few hours, you should be grateful people are making anything to help you pass the time in your little lives, this certainly was not the worst thing I've seen, and I appreciate the effort the makers/actors/and esp the crew put in to give you something to make time passing a little less boring.

Could have been better, good idea of a storyline.

I definitely thought we were going to get you can't handle the truth, we live in a world that has walls & those walls have to be guarded by men with guns, you have just weakened a nation, sleep well.

Worth watching, but not something you would watch twice!!

I don't know why but teenage daughters on tv are the most irritating of all. The kid is in the public eye and yet she acts overly dramatic with her teenage angst making anything and everything difficult for her PM mother. They should have kidnapped her instead. Or better yet, just not have her character in the show.

With the daughter out of the picture, it is a good watch full of suspense.

Hostage kicks off with a high-stakes premise and rarely lets up, moving at a relentless pace that mixes political maneuvering with personal peril.

The story occasionally stretches credibility - there are moments that make you think, "no way this could actually happen" especially in the first couple of episodes. But if you lean into the heightened reality, the series delivers a tense, absorbing ride.

At the centre is Suranne Jones, outstanding as Prime Minister Abigail Dalton. She brings a mix of steel and humanity that makes the wildest twists feel grounded. Julie Delpy is her perfect foil as French President Vivienne Toussaint - cool, enigmatic, and always hinting at deeper motives. Their on-screen push and pull is the show's real power play.

The series looks great, too. Directors Isabelle Sieb and Amy Neil keep the action tight and urgent, while Jeff Russo's score hums with understated menace. It's bingeable television in the truest sense: five hours of fast politics, high drama, and personal stakes colliding.

Yes, some plotting relies on convenience, and a few resolutions arrive too neatly wrapped. But the energy, the performances, and the sheer audacity keep it entertaining throughout.

Not prestige realism, but an unapologetic political potboiler with flair.

Overall: 8/10 - tense, stylish, and far more fun than it has any right to be.