Carmen's husband smuggles cannabis into The Netherlands as part of the 'family business'; it is profitable but his partners get greedy and steal a cocaine shipment belonging to another dealer. This puts them in a very dangerous position and soon he is gunned down in front of his young son. Carmen knew what he did but had no idea of the details so believes her brother when he tells her that it was her husband who stole the cocaine. It isn't long before some very dangerous people are coming after her to get what they think her husband stole; this puts both her and her family in danger. She is pressured to use her husband's network to bring in a single shipment of cocaine
of course it doesn't end there and despite her best efforts she finds herself being drawn into the criminal underworld. As she is she learns some shocking truths about her family and just who was behind her husband's death.
These comments are based on watching the first two series of 'Penoza', retitled 'Black Widow' here in the UK, in Dutch with English subtitles on Channel Four's 'Walter Presents' strand.
One could be forgiven for expecting this to be 'Breaking Bad' crossed with 'Mafiosa' (French series also on 'Walter Presents') but it is quite different. Those series wasted little time getting the protagonist willingly involved in an illegal business; here the protagonist is slowly dragged in to this violent world. This series also lacks the deliberate humour of those series. The story is well told; nicely combining Carmen's gradual entry into the criminal world, her desire to protect her children and problems with the police who believe that she is more involved in crime than she is at that stage. Given the subject matter it isn't surprising that there is a fair amount of violence; some of it quite brutal. Monic Hendrickx does a fine job in the lead role making Carmen's unlikely situation seem believable. The rest of the cast are pretty solid too; the only reason I don't mention anybody else by name is that I don't want to look at the cast list and learn how long characters survive! Overall I found the first two seasons of this series really gripping and hope we don't have to wait too long before more episodes are available here.
These comments are based on watching the first two series of 'Penoza', retitled 'Black Widow' here in the UK, in Dutch with English subtitles on Channel Four's 'Walter Presents' strand.
One could be forgiven for expecting this to be 'Breaking Bad' crossed with 'Mafiosa' (French series also on 'Walter Presents') but it is quite different. Those series wasted little time getting the protagonist willingly involved in an illegal business; here the protagonist is slowly dragged in to this violent world. This series also lacks the deliberate humour of those series. The story is well told; nicely combining Carmen's gradual entry into the criminal world, her desire to protect her children and problems with the police who believe that she is more involved in crime than she is at that stage. Given the subject matter it isn't surprising that there is a fair amount of violence; some of it quite brutal. Monic Hendrickx does a fine job in the lead role making Carmen's unlikely situation seem believable. The rest of the cast are pretty solid too; the only reason I don't mention anybody else by name is that I don't want to look at the cast list and learn how long characters survive! Overall I found the first two seasons of this series really gripping and hope we don't have to wait too long before more episodes are available here.