Sara: Woman in the Shadows

I found this series enjoyable to watch and completed the series over 5 nights. It is different from US dramas and has its own Italian history to deal with Mafia and fascism. Some viewers may not fully understand their historical importance to Italian society and therefore may struggle with this series. I enjoyed the story and the characters.

Both the positive and the negative reviews by others are correct: This show is slow to develop (and annoying with a giant McGuffin), not always credible, and often awkward. Plot development relies far too much on the central character's modest superpowers -- lip-reading and uncannily precise body-language interpretation. The series' threadbare budget is problematic (e.g., a supposedly big end-of-campaign rally for a populist politician with maybe 30 extras in attendance). But the acting is quite good, the gritty settings in Naples are powerful, and the story becomes more complex and more engaging as the series progresses.

If you are looking for action, forget it, there isn't any. If it offends you that all male characters are some combination of incompetent, evil, morally compromised, and unfaithful, then look elsewhere. (The women are morally compromised and highly competent.)

One collateral complaint: There are at least a dozen actors in substantial roles who are not identified in any cast listing. It's bizarre: The cast list has people with one or two lines in one episode, but does not identify actors playing characters who appear in multiple scenes in almost all of the episodes and have meaningful functions in the plot.

Not sure how there can be so many high-star reviews for this show. First, the dialogue is poor, as is the pacing! And the direction is also very poor. Then there's the main character. She was just not really all that interesting. And who leaves their boy at 6 years old and never talks to him again? I gave it 2 stars since we (my wife and I) did finish it, but I can't recommend it since it's just so slow. I'm not going to waste my time give a summary, since it's not worth it to watch. We suggest "The Lincoln Lawyer" or even "Bodyguard" instead. And if you seen those, there plenty others better than this series.

I've watched well over 200 Netflix shows, and Sara: Woman in the Shadows is, hands down, the worst one I've actually made it to the end of. And I did finish it, so it's not unwatchable-but it came close.

The biggest problem is how utterly unbelievable the scenes are. For example, a young woman-who looks barely in her 20s-is supposed to be a colonel in the Italian army. Then an older woman (a total stranger) just breaks into her flat to talk about the colonel's love life... and they chat like they're catching up in a pub. This sort of flat, unrealistic interaction happens constantly.

I don't think the actors are to blame-they seem competent-but the writing is truly poor. It often feels like a parody of a spy drama, except it's not funny enough to work as parody.

That said, the plot is mildly interesting, and a few actors are likeable, which is probably the only reason I got through it.

I can sit through almost anything, but this show is hard to watch. Keep in mind I am watching the English dubbed version in which some actors are constantly over acting. Maybe that was in hopes of covering for those who were not acting at all. The whole show seems to be about some really unlikable people who don't like other people, yet somehow, we are supposed to take an interest in their lives. I genuinely like European dramas, but this one left a bitter, borig taste in my mouth.