Season 1 |
Episode Guide
Episode 1 -| Review Score – 2.5/5
Episode 2 -|Review Score – 3/5
Episode 3 -|Review Score – 3/5
Episode 4 -|Review Score – 3/5
Episode 5 -|Review Score – 2.5/5
Episode 6 -|Review Score – 3/5
There are good TV shows and bad TV shows and then there are those that could have been really good but settled themselves into the purely average department. Woman of the Dead is one of those. The show follows Blum, a woman who loses her husband and decides to find his killer at any cost. Her revenge-driven path leads her to a conspiracy bigger than she can imagine. And what’s more, Blum runs a funeral parlour and talks to the dead.
Woman of the Dead is your run-off-the-mill murder mystery cum revenge drama. The story probes into one man’s death and slowly unravels to reveal a conspiracy with a number of powerful people involved. Blum leaves no stone unturned when it comes to taking revenge and the mighty soon begin to fall. So why did this classic combination not work?
For one, the plot itself isn’t all that impressive. Blum steamrolls ahead in her investigation but after a point, her determination turns to recklessness. She doesn’t seem to think before she acts and logic flies out the window during most of her escapades. When murders begin to take place, it’s best to not look at them too closely. The secrets she uncovers are also not particularly new and the series doesn’t add anything fresh to the age-old story of powerful people engaging in nefarious activities.
But the biggest flaw is that the fast-paced plot leaves no space for emotion. In the rush to constantly be moving ahead, characters are not given the depth they deserve. Emotions and motivations are left unexplored as a result of which the characters feel flat. Including Blum herself. She starts off with more than enough cause for her crusade but that fuel is hardly enough to last for all six episodes. Had the show paused to reflect on Blum’s thinking, it would have been easier to root for her.
There were only two points of respite for this extremely average drama. The first is Blum’s backstory which throws new light on Blum’s character and does so in an intriguing way. It offers a fresh new perspective on her that is missing in the rest of the show. The other is Blum’s tendency to talk to the dead and have entire conversations with them. This was truly one of the most fascinating parts of the show but for some inexplicable reason, the makers leave it to the side-lines. Straddling the line between reality and fantasy, it could have made the series a lot more interesting but was only ever used for Blum to think out loud.
Woman of the Dead just falls short of truly saying something. It featured immigrants but didn’t have any compelling thoughts on immigration. The unearthed conspiracy never made a broader statement about the town and its people. This is a simple mystery drama and yet it fails to truly enrapture its viewers.
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Verdict - 6/10
6/10
Thanks. We weren’t that impressed with the first episode though it was well filmed and “pretty.” We’ve decided to be a lot more discerning in deciding which series we’ll go all the way with. Lot’s of time investment to follow a complete series so we’re pulling the plug on this one.
There are only so many BB’s, Better Call Sauls, Ozarks, and Fargos.
I found it surprisingly addictive. Sure there were a few plot holes and it’s not hard to guess the final twist, but it kept my interest up right to the end. One annoying quirk was that the original German dialogue was dubbed into English, which was often quite different to the English subtitles.
BTW it’s “run of the mill”, not “off”
Nice story line line and mystery thriller. But the “hate God” speech is not necessary. Seems “preachy” rather than normal dialogue. Netflix is showing quite a bit of this tendency.
Did she wears a green shirt all the season?