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Despite the difficult subject matter, this French series is a must-watch. According to the info available, this series is loosely based on true events over a 30-year period and shows clearly how attitudes, police procedures and technology have evolved and yet still we have these same crimes happening today. What is most impressive about this production is the respect and care taken to focus on and show how the victims have been impacted by the crimes. The acting by all participants is outstanding and believable. It is hard to watch at times, especially the patronizing and misogynistic attitudes of both police, the doctors examining these victims and in the cases of the married women, their spouses. The trauma felt by the young women as they aged is also depicted in a realistic manner and with much empathy. The approach taken to emphasize one particular person in each episode is a novel way to present this kind of genre, and it works very well here. Not an easy series to watch and yet important as it covers many issues and unfortunately, is still very relevant.

My major and probably only gripe is that there is far too much 'music' involved. I don't know why, but so many shows these days have this need to include songs and background noise/music to either move things along or dictate the 'mood' required. Apart from this, although I'm not quite through season 2 now, I am impressed with both the writing and acting. The dialogue and relationship conversations are realistic, intelligent and geared towards a grown-up audience. The characters are well-developed and totally believable, as are the majority of the storylines. A gritty, suspenseful and thoroughly enjoyable series, despite the often tragic, nasty and despicable scenarios and characters. Each of the main characters are given lives that one can identify with or at least empathize with. And for more than one season, this isn't often the case. Great quality production with a good insight into the societal and political life that is Northern Ireland. At least for those of us who live elsewhere. Well worth watching! Am looking forward to season 3 once done with the 2nd series.

Except for the occasional and appreciated bits of humour, this Irish series could have been much better, given the premise. The positives are the scenery, accents (a must-watch with subtitles for us non-Gaelic types), the tension, and the completely unpredictable ending. The negatives, which unfortunately outweigh the rest, include the fairly wooden acting, especially by the actor portraying 'Conall'. I found him to have the most annoying 'deer in the headlights' look for most of the time, and the podcaster, who was so unbelievable, she was a true caricature. Most of the other characters were either so stereotypical, irritating or downright nasty, that you couldn't really connect to anyone. The one character 'Art', was despicable from the get-go and looked and played the part. There were too many characters, too many storylines, and it lasted far too long. The main irritant was the music - the background stuff and the songs that became so overwhelming at times, I just wanted it to be over already. It had its moments, but the majority of this series was a let-down and above all, a real disappointment in terms of acting.