On the whole this was an entertaining experience. It's well acted with interesting (if not sympathetic) characters, has beautiful sets and locations, and a good score.
While this is a crime story it is not a "gritty" or film noir styled production. The who-dunnit story is the main thread through-out the series but often that takes a back seat to what I'd classify as family drama. It's almost soap-opera in some scenes. A lot of the show revolves around the evolving relationships between family members and friends as they deal with their actions in the current as well as come to terms their actions in the past. (The show runs in two timelines: the present and the late 90s). There is quite a lot of screen time devoted to family interactions some of which is quite dark. Other themes the show presents are dealing with the transition of youth to middle-age, sexual morality and parenting. If that's not enough there is drug-comedy and a little crime family conflict in there as well. If that seems like a lot, it is but there is around 10 hours of viewing.
Some of the situations and characters are quite unbelievable, especially in the drug-comedy sections. All the Romanians in the show are essentially parodies which is at odds with the rest of the characters. There are a few very good performances in this show. Daniel Mays (Marcus) and Nuno Lopes (Boxer) were standouts to me but whole cast was good. The lead Laura Haddock was fine.
There is quite a bit of nudity in this show. It didn't seem out of place to me but definitely something to keep in mind if you're looking for something to watch with your parents! (Actually there are a couple of reasons not to watch this with your parents but I won't spoil it further).
Review of White Lines
