Stalk

I've seen both seasons over the past week. They are both rapidly fading from my memory so I thought it would be best to do a review while there are some vestigial remnants of the episodes left.

This is a teen drama aimed at the 21st century attention span. Episodes were a crisp 20 minutes long in Season One and twenty two to thirty minutes in Season Two.

Action was fast, characterisation and development non existent. I don't agree with criticisms that it didn't show the real world of hacking and cyberstalking with all of its setbacks and time-consuming failures before getting in to the target. It's a kids' show, for goodness sake!

Much of the dialogue was mumbo jumbo to me with its language of "applis" and how to stalk someone online. I speak fluent French but again, as in a recent French film I watched featuring the youth, I needed the subtitles to follow the script.

I turned my brain off and let this effort wash over me. Now that this review has been written, I can completely forget the lot.

The first episodes were quite good. I liked the characters, I liked the music and I liked the concept.

But it goes downhill really fast.

Most annoying for me was how wrong the hacking of computers and smartphones was displayed. At first I ignored it, because ... it is shown wrong in almost all movies and series. But it was getting more and more annoying in the later episodes.

And there are plotholes. A whole lot of plotholes.

Smartphones have no lights to show you, that your camera is on? Well they have since years. Okay, maybe they didn't when this show was filmed...

Everybody is holding their phones always in a way, that it can film their faces at all times, while being stalked.

Nice idea, badly executed.

I began to watch this series with distrust, but in the first moment it won me over. The best musical accompaniment with a convoluted plot, at the same time, the hack does not look like "keystrokes". As a programmer, I liked that the show is not like Hackers (1995), in which the data center is some kind of digital city.

I highly recommend it for viewing and rate it highly. Best music score I've heard.

This french TV series deserves the highest rank. The quality of the plot beats easily any other of this kind. Actors are all at the very top. The protagonist is incredibly excellent, he commands the whole 2 seasons serie with a level unseen from Gossip Girl. I do think it's the top of teen, super high quality, tech-oriented, series. Gorgeous.

When "Stalk" first graced our screens, it promised a thrilling dive into the dark world of cyberstalking, blending suspense with a modern technological twist. However, as the series progressed, it devolved into a realm of implausibility and irritation, primarily due to the character infamously known as 'the annoying face guy.'

Initially, "Stalk" captivated its audience with a gripping narrative and a chilling portrayal of cyberstalking's dangers. The premise was engaging, and the storyline seemed to be on a promising trajectory. But as the episodes rolled out, it became evident that the show was losing its grip on reality.

The most glaring issue was the character development of the 'annoying face guy.' Introduced as a complex antagonist, he quickly morphed into a caricature of villainy. His ability to execute complex cybercrimes with ease, without any realistic challenges or setbacks, strained credulity. In the real world, even the most skilled hackers face obstacles and complexities, but in "Stalk," these elements were conspicuously absent, replaced by an oversimplified portrayal of cybercrime.

Moreover, this character's omnipotence in the digital realm felt exaggerated. He could hack into any system, manipulate data, and evade detection with a few clicks - a portrayal that not only undermines the seriousness of cyberstalking but also belittles the intelligence of the audience. The creators seemed more focused on shock value than on maintaining a believable storyline.

The script didn't help either. Laden with clichés and predictable dialogues, it felt as if the writers were more invested in sensationalizing cyberstalking than in exploring its complexities and impacts. Each episode seemed to drift further away from the initial intrigue and suspense, culminating in a finale that felt both rushed and unfulfilling.

The series also missed an opportunity to delve into the psychological aspects of stalking, both from the stalker's and the victims' perspectives. Such exploration could have added a much-needed layer of depth and realism. Instead, the show remained superficial, glossing over the emotional and psychological consequences of stalking.

In conclusion, "Stalk" started as a promising series but quickly descended into a pit of unrealism and superficiality. The 'annoying face guy' became a symbol of the show's downfall - a character who could have been a fascinating study in obsession and technology turned into an unrealistic, one-dimensional figure. The series, in its entirety, serves as a missed opportunity to explore a critical and timely issue with the depth and nuance it deserves.