Rules of the Game

I very nearly didn't watch this because of the low score, but Maxine Peake is always in great things, so I decided to give it a go. It's very watchable, interesting even if not terribly likeable characters, and overall well done, with the exception of poor acting by the police detective.

This is a very well-acted series; well put together cast. It's paced right without a lot of filler, and the directing and production were all good for me. It's just gets a bit ridiculous. The first two/three episodes are engaging, then it all gets a bit unbelievable and far-fetched. It was a decent watch and don't think it's deserving of the current 5.6 rating on IMDb.

The acting was superb! The twists were great. I really liked how it was set to keep the mystery going and there was no predictability. The character build was perfect building up to the reveal in the final episode.

I clearly do not understand the negative reviews. A lot of very clever work went into writing and development and complexity of each character.

Sam played by Mexine Peake was truly a well crafted character. Very talented acting for such a challenging role. I will be looking for her previous roles and will be watching just to see more of her incredible talent.

All actors we perfectly casted and brought so much. Bravo to everyone involved in creating this little series.

For a show that explores misogyny and toxic masculinity in the workplace, it's also done a pretty good job of exposing it (as well as other deplorable traits) among IMDb users as well - appalled by some of the comments here that are nothing to do with this 4-part series but all to do with the world view of some very blinkered people.

Therefore, sadly, just by being a MeToo drama, the series was going to face immediate backlash from the start. Hardly surprising then that reviews have been left panning the whole series after only episode.

That is not to say that Rules of the Game doesn't merit any constructive scrutiny. There are times the whowasit/whodunnit plot (which is a clever idea) drifts into soap opera territory, but it's the execution of that script that keeps it firmly in the wheelhouse of elevated drama we expect from the BBC.

The performances from Maxine Peake, Rahkee Thakrar and Callie Cooke are committed, and the direction/storytelling of the scripts whips the tale along clearly and at a great pace - even allowing for laughs here and there.

It's not perfect and it wont be for everyone, it will also be uncomfortably familiar viewing for some, but it tells an interesting story of gender dynamics in the workplace it's time we saw a lot more.

I enjoyed this series and can't understand why there are so many negative reviews. It used a common device of starting off with a death and using flashbacks to fill in the backstory. It was unusual in that the deceased wasn't revealed at first. There's a strong message about sexual harassment of women, which seems to have provoked some of the negative reviews, but I didn't find it detracted from the story. If you want a well acted, intriguing story that will keep you engaged then I can recommend Rules of the Game.