The Writer

I'm a Lebanese living abroad.. I often watch Lebanese series online because I love our culture, our traditions, our language, in short, I love my country.. but also because it makes me feel like I'm still part of what I like to call home.. Yet I'm also a big fan of Hollywood and other international movies and series of all genres, and subconsciously I am always comparing Lebanese movies and series to international ones.. which let's be honest is not fair.. since like everything else in life, budget mostly but also filmmaking experience make a huge difference on the final outcome.. This series redefines Lebanese series and brings Lebanese productions up to a whole new level and opens the door to new genres! The screenplay was unique, the sceneries were heartwarming, the music was an innovation on its own, the characters were well developed and the acting of most of the characters was very realistic, bringing the series to a whole new level.. Although, I should mention that it was hard for me to get attached to the series at the beginning.. it took me 3-4 episodes to grasp the plot, get acquainted to the new genre and start loving the characters.. so if you're like me, and judge a series by the first episode, this one will teach you to be patient and give it a chance to prove itself.. I am truly convinced that its innovative aspect might be the reason why it might take some time to actually get into the story and be perplexed by its misteries.. I am so proud of my country, my people and my culture.. By both the genre, the new filming techniques used, the contemporary acting, the appearance of many new talents, the constant mentioning of worldknown authors, books, actors and directors, etc (which allowed me to situate the plot into our reality) this series is a promising success! Cheers to new challenges! Well done Lebanon 💜

Some of these reviews are pretty harsh and kind of unfair. I'm a student of the Arabic language. This series is actually awesome for exposure to Levantine dialect and culture. Give it a chance.

Yes, this entire series may (or may not) be an exact replica of an American or European soap, perhaps even copied line by line as well as shot by shot ...

it's also full of script flaws and plot errors here and there ... actings, although mostly great, do also degrade once a while in some cases ... but the whole work is so finely directed and professionally videographed and above all, the well stated social commentary is so deep yet so plainly conveyed that I have nothing to say but for i am highly impressed!

yes, i already knew Lebanon is a secular country with very charming people and I was also well aware that the movie industry of Lebanon is a well established one with a decades-long history before I started watching ... but still, as the movie went on, I found myself more and more attached to the events and stories of each one of the many characters that all happen to be imperfect human beings yet everyone is quite understandable!

a huge kudos to all people involved in creating such a truly nice job indeed!

Is it cheesy? Yes! Does it skip some information and you have to mentally fill in the blanks? Yes! Is the main character a spoiled selfish lout? But does he learn and change? Absolutely! Is it different, hysterical and fun? Absolutely! I have to admit, it took a little brain tweaking to get into this. I'm a blond, freckle faced, born and raised Californian. I love Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie. So, to hear these characters talk about these famous western writers, was fun and shocking to me. Shocking that they would even know them. The main character, who is 'The Writer', dreams regularly about his main protagonist, Mr. Helmi. In the dream he is always in a train boxcar, and different characters from his book and life are sometimes on the train. Mr. Helmi helps him reason out who the murderer is. This part of the story is brilliant and fun. This show really is hysterically, but as I mentioned, your head has to be open to understanding, otherwise you won't get the jokes because they are presented in a dry humor. I believe this show also offers 'life lessons' about how easily you can lose control. The sisters of the murdered girl continually jump to conclusions that make perfect sense, but are way off. The blogger/journalist seems so clever at first, but then falls down a rabbit hole. I highly recommend this show and didn't regret one bit, the time I spent watching it. One more note, it is interesting that none of the characters ever kiss, even at their engagement party. Evidence that it is not really necessary.

I'll keep it simple You can easily watch this series and enjoy it, it's not a bad choice at all, good acting, interesting murder-mystery kind of story and great imagery with an artistic type of direction (cool concept).

But i think the only real problem is that the storyline is slow, i don't know why Arabic series in general always try to hit 30 episodes, it's becoming a tradition.

So this is the only negative thing otherwise it's almost great, no need for harsh reviews, it's unfair.

Just a side note, The director, the writer, the lead male actor and the fictional detective character, are Syrians not Lebanese.