shallowness (
shallowness) wrote2018-01-25 08:10 pm
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McMafia and Next of Kin
McMafia – Episode 5
On the whole, less good than previous eps. Before the titles, Alex was urged to keep moving, mind and body, in his Russian fitness/exercise/fighting class, so there was his throughline for the whole episode; his sister and we found out that a friend her age had got pregnant with their father (!!! But it was really a sub, subplot. As we already knew their father had been unfaithful and that the family was already one Tolstoy could have written about, I don’t see the point); and it turned out Kleiman was gay and his lover was generations younger than him.
It was the latter thing that would propel the plot. I know they seeded the fact that Kleiman wasn’t interested in the trafficked girls, and with a cast of millions, they might not have wanted to bring in his young man before, but it might have felt less pointed if they had.
I realised that the main(ish) character I feel the most sorry for is Ludmilla, who is now drinking like a fish, desperate to leave. Alex is lying to himself – as Joseph queried, he’s still calling himself a banker, and as Kleiman observed, the only question is how far he’ll go. He could arguably have walked away; although not really because he was in too deep with Kleiman and if Vadim figured it out, he’d definitely come back for him and his family.
I will say that the encounter between Vadim and Alex at the airport lounge was excellent, where the young pretender got schooled by the master, and it was confirmed that Kleiman’s art dealer friend had stitched him up. Vadim won this round.
Rebecca is crossing over into too gullible to live. Granted, it might have made sense to turn to ‘Antonio’ for reassurance on Alex, and maybe I’m being unfair because we know so much more. All she’s seeing is a nice guy giving her flattering attentions and allaying her concerns about her fiancé. But we know her fiancé is in Israel because of Antonio. THE BIG-TIME NARCO.
Tel Aviv looked really nice, if you’re rich.
Meanwhile I pondered the question of whether Joseph the bodyguard was really deep or a plot device. I’ve settled on the latter, as he became Kleiman’s enforcer and even more of a fixer. Again, perhaps this was intentional, to reveal Kleiman is a smaller fish than Vadim, but even the guy in Prague had heavies and fixers. And Strathairn did an excellent job showing Kleiman’s fragility. So, maybe it was because they already have this huge cast, but having the guy who told Ludmilla that Kleiman is a good guy (ha) step up to this role. Well, maybe I’m unfair, and he was just telling her what he thought she needed to hear.
But although they’re trying to develop his soft spot for her and her reliance on him, all I’m seeing is that she was trafficked there, he’s part of the set-up that forced her there, and in the scene where he came to give her the goodish news, if he was hoping for sex, it was right that it wasn’t on the table. But I suspect they’re both going to end up in London on Alex’s doorstep (or Joseph is, with her having been killed).
Because the destiny Alex is heading for (as he isn’t going to get killed, being the main character) is criminal kingpin. He lied rather well, except around Vadim, and maximised very little actual leverage to save Kleiman.
Next of Kin - Episode 3
Mona was up and about/out of hospital fast.
EVERYONE was still making terrible decisions – Mona and the police being the main actors.
Mona and Guy’s communication, what we saw of it, was also terrible. It went something like:
GUY gives ultimatum
MONA shiftily lies/tells half-truth.
GUY: That’s all right then.
I mean, we could all join in the chorus as to why she didn’t trust the cops ‘because you lied/because your guys shot me’ (and they had the SAME GUYS driving around Lahore with Townsend.)
As to where my sympathies lie, well, at one point, I did think callously ‘eh, it’d be easier for the family if Danesh DID get shot’, which isn’t a particularly sustainable line of thought morally, because I do see remorse for whatever he did. Yes, your dad doesn’t seem to have been religious, but he was a doctor for charity, Master Too Stupid for University.
Anyway, some things were flagged up as mitigation: Mona’s mother was putting on the guilt trip big time (and you wished she was privy to the evidence Mona was) and the little brother’s story about Kareem, which showed that their father died when they were all young underlined Mona and Kareem’s responsibility for the rest of the family.
But Guy, love the rest of the family as he does is going to put his son first.
Mona going to the madrasa was stupid. She carried on lying to the police beyond what was reasonable. Sending the money was incredibly stupid. Obviously, she’s not thinking straight because of grief and painkillers and mistrust (and the police are inept). But that’s a lot of stupid building up.
On the whole, less good than previous eps. Before the titles, Alex was urged to keep moving, mind and body, in his Russian fitness/exercise/fighting class, so there was his throughline for the whole episode; his sister and we found out that a friend her age had got pregnant with their father (!!! But it was really a sub, subplot. As we already knew their father had been unfaithful and that the family was already one Tolstoy could have written about, I don’t see the point); and it turned out Kleiman was gay and his lover was generations younger than him.
It was the latter thing that would propel the plot. I know they seeded the fact that Kleiman wasn’t interested in the trafficked girls, and with a cast of millions, they might not have wanted to bring in his young man before, but it might have felt less pointed if they had.
I realised that the main(ish) character I feel the most sorry for is Ludmilla, who is now drinking like a fish, desperate to leave. Alex is lying to himself – as Joseph queried, he’s still calling himself a banker, and as Kleiman observed, the only question is how far he’ll go. He could arguably have walked away; although not really because he was in too deep with Kleiman and if Vadim figured it out, he’d definitely come back for him and his family.
I will say that the encounter between Vadim and Alex at the airport lounge was excellent, where the young pretender got schooled by the master, and it was confirmed that Kleiman’s art dealer friend had stitched him up. Vadim won this round.
Rebecca is crossing over into too gullible to live. Granted, it might have made sense to turn to ‘Antonio’ for reassurance on Alex, and maybe I’m being unfair because we know so much more. All she’s seeing is a nice guy giving her flattering attentions and allaying her concerns about her fiancé. But we know her fiancé is in Israel because of Antonio. THE BIG-TIME NARCO.
Tel Aviv looked really nice, if you’re rich.
Meanwhile I pondered the question of whether Joseph the bodyguard was really deep or a plot device. I’ve settled on the latter, as he became Kleiman’s enforcer and even more of a fixer. Again, perhaps this was intentional, to reveal Kleiman is a smaller fish than Vadim, but even the guy in Prague had heavies and fixers. And Strathairn did an excellent job showing Kleiman’s fragility. So, maybe it was because they already have this huge cast, but having the guy who told Ludmilla that Kleiman is a good guy (ha) step up to this role. Well, maybe I’m unfair, and he was just telling her what he thought she needed to hear.
But although they’re trying to develop his soft spot for her and her reliance on him, all I’m seeing is that she was trafficked there, he’s part of the set-up that forced her there, and in the scene where he came to give her the goodish news, if he was hoping for sex, it was right that it wasn’t on the table. But I suspect they’re both going to end up in London on Alex’s doorstep (or Joseph is, with her having been killed).
Because the destiny Alex is heading for (as he isn’t going to get killed, being the main character) is criminal kingpin. He lied rather well, except around Vadim, and maximised very little actual leverage to save Kleiman.
Next of Kin - Episode 3
Mona was up and about/out of hospital fast.
EVERYONE was still making terrible decisions – Mona and the police being the main actors.
Mona and Guy’s communication, what we saw of it, was also terrible. It went something like:
GUY gives ultimatum
MONA shiftily lies/tells half-truth.
GUY: That’s all right then.
I mean, we could all join in the chorus as to why she didn’t trust the cops ‘because you lied/because your guys shot me’ (and they had the SAME GUYS driving around Lahore with Townsend.)
As to where my sympathies lie, well, at one point, I did think callously ‘eh, it’d be easier for the family if Danesh DID get shot’, which isn’t a particularly sustainable line of thought morally, because I do see remorse for whatever he did. Yes, your dad doesn’t seem to have been religious, but he was a doctor for charity, Master Too Stupid for University.
Anyway, some things were flagged up as mitigation: Mona’s mother was putting on the guilt trip big time (and you wished she was privy to the evidence Mona was) and the little brother’s story about Kareem, which showed that their father died when they were all young underlined Mona and Kareem’s responsibility for the rest of the family.
But Guy, love the rest of the family as he does is going to put his son first.
Mona going to the madrasa was stupid. She carried on lying to the police beyond what was reasonable. Sending the money was incredibly stupid. Obviously, she’s not thinking straight because of grief and painkillers and mistrust (and the police are inept). But that’s a lot of stupid building up.