Michael Bennett

Without giving out spoilers... It is stylish and cool to look at. However, if you engage your brain at all you might find there is little sense to it. Firstly, the flashes backwards and forwards stinks of a director desperate to keep your attention rather than deliver an interesting story. As the series goes on, you might realise that the female leader of the gang has never done anything to gain her fearsome reputation nor to create a syndicate of mafioso from around the world, including hunting down the one person who can break this centuries-old mega safe. In fact, the only impressive thing she's done in her past is read a car company's AGM report. That's the main plot undermined then. Smaller weird detail you might notice: In a later episode, a 50yr old gangster called Gareth is playing PlayStation with his dead mate's teenage daughter. Judging by how quickly him and his 7 gangater mates turn up armed, they must have been having a PlayStation party at his house. Last episode tries to make some sort of societal moral but it lands flat. Finally, the "antagonist" probably needs to speak to his accountant if this heist is leaving him suicidally broke.

Has the ingredients, doesn't make a good film. The will-they-wont-they is dragged out and convoluted. The newlyweds, for some reason, want their parents to marry, making them stepsiblings. The social media driven bride issue is a waste of time. There is no development there whatsoever. The best friend character, who should be hilarious, never really makes an impression despite plenty of opportunity. Not worth having it on in the background.

A gospel-choir-accompanied Santa Claus fights an ex-elf whose accent merges English-South African-Australian-Irish in order to bring a step-family back together. Side note: There is some pro-feminism stuff that never really goes anywhere beyond the frozen-foreheaded Mrs Claus staking her claim to the factory, before she convinces, in true Bugs Bunny style, a young lad that 'courage was always inside' him (his dad is that bloke from Fast and the Furious, btw). Doesn't do much well and there are loads of better Christmas films.

Really, really well written series. Sad, funny and everything that links those two emotions. However, they drag out the 'how did the dad die?' storyline for too long. The father ends up taking on some sort of mythical, demi-God role for the rest of the family, beyond the understandable post-grief idealising.