The meeting place cannot be changed – Style – Kommersant

White witches, bad sisters and Star Wars in a new reading: Kommersant Style is about serial novelties that deserve attention and thoughtful viewing.

“Andor”

Spoiler: Andor will appeal even to those who have not watched a single episode of Star Wars or are indifferent to the great saga. The action of the series takes place in the same universe, but the viewer will not see a single Jedi or representative of the Skywalker family. Formally, Andor is a prequel to a prequel, a story that precedes the events of Rogue One. In fact, it is an action-packed spy thriller about Cassian Andor, a small-time crook who steals and resells parts of Imperial starships for a high price. He will become one of the main heroes of the resistance. Tony Gilroy, the showrunner of the series, has portrayed the structure of the empire with merciless precision and made it look like Kafka’s “Castle”: a complex bureaucratic world where everyone plays their own game, many of them double. At the same time, it is very easy to identify yourself with the heroes of Andor: they do not have lightsabers, but there are problems in their personal lives, bad habits and difficult relationships with each other.

The main showrunner of the series is Tony Gilroy, the screenwriter of Jason Bourne: the exciting plot and deep dialogues in Andora are his merit. Abandoning the usual trappings of Star Wars, Gilroy created a serious and sometimes dark drama and once again demonstrated that there is no absolute good and evil.

“Half-Blood Devil”

The basis for the series was the novel “Half Bad” – the literary and highly successful debut of the British writer Sally Green. This is a favorite mix of fantasy and young adult genres: to hunt monsters, and cry about acne and unrequited love… “Half-Blood Devil” seems to be a rehash of the same Harry Potter (the struggle between good and bad magicians for the soul of the Boy Who Lived), But in reality, everything is much more complicated and interesting. In the world of modern England, with all its charms and problems, sorcerers continue to live. As usual, conditionally good (white sorcerers) and conditionally evil (bloody witchers). The first successfully expelled the second to the continent, but here’s the bad luck: the main black magician, the werewolf Marcus Edge, raped a white sorceress, and she gave birth to a son, after which she mysteriously committed suicide. Now the half-breed Nathan is the object of increased attention of the entire magical community. Which does not prevent him from experiencing typical teenage problems – from bullying to first love.

Showrunner Joe Barton managed to go beyond the “good vs bad” paradigm, to reflect on the nature of good and evil, and to attract viewers to these reflections. White sorcerers sin with a thirst for power and deceit, and bloody witchers are impossibly charming and bohemian. The scenery of modern London and Paris adds realism to the series, and the music will become a separate pleasure for music lovers.

“The Garvey Sisters Conspiracy”

Once upon a time there were five sisters: a successful careerist Eva, a mother of many children Ursula, a carefree young Beka, an adrenaline lover Bibi and an exemplary wife Grace. Grace – or rather, her problems – become the main focus of the series. The fact is that John Paul, Grace’s husband, is not quite the charming successful man he seems to be. He is a real abuser, a tyrant and a bastard who, over the years of marriage, completely deprived his wife of her will and turned her into his slave. This is visible to everyone except herself. And the sisters decide that the best way to free Grace is to kill her husband. But who actually committed the crime? And is it a crime? Each new episode gives new clues and at the same time confuses the viewer even more.

John Paul was brilliantly portrayed by Claes Bang, the star of the movie The Square and who played Dracula in the BBC television series of the same name. In The Conspiracy of the Garvey Sisters, he managed to portray such a reference bastard that you are imbued with the deepest hatred from the first seconds of screen time. In general, the series talks about topical issues: abuse, psychological violence against women, but finds the right intonation for this. Without edification, with a pinch of humor and excellent dynamics: The Garvey Sisters Conspiracy is full of intrigue, investigation and action.

Natalia Inshakova