I wanted to love this show as I really enjoyed the movie of same name as well as Stefano Sollima's Sicario 2, ZeroZeroZero and Suburra. Gomorrah Season 1 was great but the series couldn't maintain that momentum. Unfortunately, this series turned out to be repetitive, unrealistic and full of unlikeable characters. In short, there are a bunch of drug-dealing psychopaths vying for control of territory throughout Italy. Clans forge alliances, betray one another and murder dozens of people in the process. The cast starts out with some nuance but, by the end of Season 3 (as far as I got), there were just a bunch of interchangeable, sullen scoundrels moping around and assassinating everyone in sight.
In terms of realism, the show suffers from the usual crime drama problem of a comically ineffective police presence. As the show progresses, characters become increasingly brazen about committing felonies in public without even trying to hide their identity. The story is supposed to be taking place in modern day Naples, not a nineteenth-century frontier town.
Another problem is Gomorrah's expectation that its audience will inversely correlate character's screen time with disposability. This problem manifests in several ways. Firstly, when characters meet a violent end we're led to empathize with all the wrong souls. Scenes of grieving widows and orphaned children can't make me mourn the loss of some irredeemable lowlife. Conversely, it's hard to forget all the nameless redshirts mowed down in service of plot advancement. With the director's intentions at odds with our natural, empathic instincts; we end up emotionally invested in nothing.
Also, various factions are improbably forgiving when forming coalitions. Regional bosses routinely align themselves with blood enemies. It's almost as if, because *we* don't care about unnamed henchmen, we're meant to assume that their own colleagues don't care either. Apparently, killing off the boss's staff in droves doesn't preclude future collaboration. This is doubly ridiculous after early episodes establish comradery among journeyman gangsters along with fierce tribalism, persistent grudges and fragile egos.
Lastly, it defies reason that so many characters refuse to curtail ambition in the face of so much death and treachery. Every minor lead sees his comrades gunned down one by one. Every confederacy is forged with known turncoats. Be it a friend, enemy or kin; someone is coming to stab them in the back. In the unlikely event that a character survives for a spell, they'll at least lose a family member and end up worse off than where they started. In effect, these people have zero instinct for self-preservation. They're constantly making enemies, wandering around in public, meeting in-person for no reason and refusing to delegate dangerous tasks. It seems as if everyone is making decisions simply to advance the plot rather than some organic process.
All of these issues start small but become more flagrant over time. I don't mind a bleak storyline but Gomorrah ultimately leads nowhere and leaves you with no one to root for. It's not all bad though. Aside from the repetitive score, the production value is high. Cinematography is beautiful and it was cool to see the gritty side of Italy. Thematic elements of hubris, cyclic failure, family, honor and redemption are well-presented. Taken in isolation, the shootouts are realistic enough. As with Game of Thrones, there's lots of double-talk, innuendo, veiled threats, plotting, etc. Most of the tension stems from not knowing who's planning a double-cross at any given moment. Not a bad show but there's a missed opportunity to be something better. Maybe Seasons 4+ offer something that I've yet to account.
In terms of realism, the show suffers from the usual crime drama problem of a comically ineffective police presence. As the show progresses, characters become increasingly brazen about committing felonies in public without even trying to hide their identity. The story is supposed to be taking place in modern day Naples, not a nineteenth-century frontier town.
Another problem is Gomorrah's expectation that its audience will inversely correlate character's screen time with disposability. This problem manifests in several ways. Firstly, when characters meet a violent end we're led to empathize with all the wrong souls. Scenes of grieving widows and orphaned children can't make me mourn the loss of some irredeemable lowlife. Conversely, it's hard to forget all the nameless redshirts mowed down in service of plot advancement. With the director's intentions at odds with our natural, empathic instincts; we end up emotionally invested in nothing.
Also, various factions are improbably forgiving when forming coalitions. Regional bosses routinely align themselves with blood enemies. It's almost as if, because *we* don't care about unnamed henchmen, we're meant to assume that their own colleagues don't care either. Apparently, killing off the boss's staff in droves doesn't preclude future collaboration. This is doubly ridiculous after early episodes establish comradery among journeyman gangsters along with fierce tribalism, persistent grudges and fragile egos.
Lastly, it defies reason that so many characters refuse to curtail ambition in the face of so much death and treachery. Every minor lead sees his comrades gunned down one by one. Every confederacy is forged with known turncoats. Be it a friend, enemy or kin; someone is coming to stab them in the back. In the unlikely event that a character survives for a spell, they'll at least lose a family member and end up worse off than where they started. In effect, these people have zero instinct for self-preservation. They're constantly making enemies, wandering around in public, meeting in-person for no reason and refusing to delegate dangerous tasks. It seems as if everyone is making decisions simply to advance the plot rather than some organic process.
All of these issues start small but become more flagrant over time. I don't mind a bleak storyline but Gomorrah ultimately leads nowhere and leaves you with no one to root for. It's not all bad though. Aside from the repetitive score, the production value is high. Cinematography is beautiful and it was cool to see the gritty side of Italy. Thematic elements of hubris, cyclic failure, family, honor and redemption are well-presented. Taken in isolation, the shootouts are realistic enough. As with Game of Thrones, there's lots of double-talk, innuendo, veiled threats, plotting, etc. Most of the tension stems from not knowing who's planning a double-cross at any given moment. Not a bad show but there's a missed opportunity to be something better. Maybe Seasons 4+ offer something that I've yet to account.
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