[TV] In From the Cold - Netflix

[mTk]

I like this trailer because it gives you the bear minimum to get you interested, but resists the temptation to shower you with spoilers.
The basic plot is well worn. CIA finds her and makers her work for them (for the greater good) via blackmail.
Annya is a bada** female and beats up a lot of people along the way as the series moves through its 8 episodes. Yep. we've seen this
except...not really. That's because as teenage Annya was learning to be a Russian spy she was involved in a project that, uh, lets just
say gave her some special skills.
Annya is also a 42-year-old mom and she and her teenage daughter are in Madrid for some ice skating competition. Surprisingly, although
the daughter is a whining, spoiled little brat she manages the role without being really irritating. And around episode 5 I'm starting to think
she may have a bit of darker side. Brrr.
And that CIA agent? Well, uh, ....
Anyway, this heads up is just because I'm finding this to be really surprisingly good. If you like action thrillers with plenty of twists this may
be just what you need.
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[mTk]

OooooKay.
Finished it and really liked it until....the last 60 seconds.
Writers/Director throws the viewer a huge WTF moment twist at the end.
Now, personally, I find that kind of thing interesting and thought provoking. In this instance, not so much.
After thinking about it for several minutes I came to the conclusion the ending makes absolutely no sense.
It is the single biggest nunsense moment I've can ever recall in a TV show. Nothing in show leading up to that
ending support it.
No spoilers from me. Check it out yourself and see what you think.

 

[A Canadian Cat]

Finished it and really liked it until....the last 60 seconds.

Yep, right there with ya. There were some writing issues along the way but nothing too bad and I was able to ignore it because the good out weighed the rest. But good lord that ending is not only terrible but really badly written.

I'm going to consider it a limited series and ignore the twist on the twist and call it a good show. I'll probably skip a second season - which I am sure they were going for.

 

[Louis]

I think I'll just watch it... to see that ending!

 

[mTk]

You nailed it. Why did I not consider that? It was such a jarring end to season 8 that my brain sort of liquefied.
If I'd paid a little more attention to the series description there were clues. Soo I did a very small amount of
research and found:
Will there be a season 2?
"According to a Netflix interview with Adam Glass, who serves as the creator for the series, three seasons have
been plotted out for the show in total." Mar 02, 2022 Netflix
They don't say it's a given, but it does/could explain the "ending" to episode 8...sort of.
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And then:
"Margarita Levieva is an American actress. Born in Leningrad, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (now
Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation), at age three she began the rigorous training program of a competitive
rhythmic gymnast." - IMBD
That would explain the physique 'cause she is buffed. Although I thought I saw a few action scenes where she had
a double. She's a gymnast but not a skater.
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I'll probably watch as it was pretty good and Jenny/Anya is kind of a unique character.
And I am curious how they manage to dance around the train wreck. Probably easily but not necessarily convincingly.
And she is the "Whisperer". Still good at the job.

 

[A Canadian Cat]

That would explain the physique 'cause she is buffed. Although I thought I saw a few action scenes where she had
a double. She's a gymnast but not a skater.

For sure the competitive skating scenes had lots of creative camera work. But that's not an issue and they did an OK job. Frankly the thing that bothered me the most about the skating was that they did not Zamboni the ice after the warm up - did you see the look of that ice before the competition - disgraceful

I'll probably watch as it was pretty good and Jenny/Anya is kind of a unique character.
And I am curious how they manage to dance around the train wreck. Probably easily but not necessarily convincingly.
And she is still the "Whisperer" and still good at the job.

True. In fact that's one of the things that bothered me even more about the ending. They could easily have kept it going with her reluctantly working for <redacted - so no spoilers>. They had that part of the story done right. There was always good tension between her not wanting to go back to her old life and yet being actually quite good at it.

 

[Hardradi]

Let me guess...Crying Game

 

[mTk]

No, thank God!
Just a problem with the story telling.
I probably made a bit too much out of it, but at the time I really disliked it.

 

[Hardradi]

I got caught out on the show Billions a couple of weeks ago. That one went the other way though.

I will give it a look.