My wife and I had mixed feelings about this series.
First the good news.
The first and last episodes were excellent. The first portrayed so well what happened during the fire and especially the panic and how so many women were left behind in the rush for the excellent and trampled by men. That women were the overwhelming number of victims in the fire is well documented so this seemed to be very realistic.
The final episode was so good first and foremost because it was the final episode (note sarcasm!) but to be fair also because it did wrap up reasonably well the three story lines.
Also worthy of praise was the acting of the three lead females. Audrey Fleurot is always a joy and adds to almost any series she appears in (with one notable exception that comes to mind that was an absolute disaster: Series 2 of Witness; even she couldn't rescue that rubbish). Camille Lou stunning as April and Julie de Bona does well with the difficult role of Rose.
The scenery is beautiful but given this is Paris you could hardly go wrong. The costumes gorgeous. The directing I couldn't fault.
Now the bad news.
It is very difficult to watch this series and that for two main reasons.
Firstly, the plot lines really take some effort to believe and, frankly, many of the plot twists we just didn't buy. The Rose/Odette thing which is the key to one of the three stories we just found impossible to believe. I'll say no more about that as I don't want to spoil this.
Alice, Julien and Victor? Unconvincing.
Adrienne and her husband. Not sure.
But the second reason we found it difficult to watch? We just found almost all the men just so horrible that it was painful having to endure them as characters. The aristocracy (as far as the men were concerned) is portrayed as being totally heartless and if not evil then certainly not angels - but given the way the men acted during the fire this is perhaps a natural continuation of that theme. The lower classes of course are the angels and hardly a bad one to be found among Victor and his friends (of course Marc-Antoine has his henchmen but they are pretty much stereotypes as was he).
We essentially cringed our way through episodes 2 through 7 because of this and were happy when each episode ended and even breathed a huge sigh of relief when the series concluded as it meant we had to endure no more.
A sequel? I hope not although they clearly left the door wide open with the opening endings. We certainly won't be watching if there is one.
First the good news.
The first and last episodes were excellent. The first portrayed so well what happened during the fire and especially the panic and how so many women were left behind in the rush for the excellent and trampled by men. That women were the overwhelming number of victims in the fire is well documented so this seemed to be very realistic.
The final episode was so good first and foremost because it was the final episode (note sarcasm!) but to be fair also because it did wrap up reasonably well the three story lines.
Also worthy of praise was the acting of the three lead females. Audrey Fleurot is always a joy and adds to almost any series she appears in (with one notable exception that comes to mind that was an absolute disaster: Series 2 of Witness; even she couldn't rescue that rubbish). Camille Lou stunning as April and Julie de Bona does well with the difficult role of Rose.
The scenery is beautiful but given this is Paris you could hardly go wrong. The costumes gorgeous. The directing I couldn't fault.
Now the bad news.
It is very difficult to watch this series and that for two main reasons.
Firstly, the plot lines really take some effort to believe and, frankly, many of the plot twists we just didn't buy. The Rose/Odette thing which is the key to one of the three stories we just found impossible to believe. I'll say no more about that as I don't want to spoil this.
Alice, Julien and Victor? Unconvincing.
Adrienne and her husband. Not sure.
But the second reason we found it difficult to watch? We just found almost all the men just so horrible that it was painful having to endure them as characters. The aristocracy (as far as the men were concerned) is portrayed as being totally heartless and if not evil then certainly not angels - but given the way the men acted during the fire this is perhaps a natural continuation of that theme. The lower classes of course are the angels and hardly a bad one to be found among Victor and his friends (of course Marc-Antoine has his henchmen but they are pretty much stereotypes as was he).
We essentially cringed our way through episodes 2 through 7 because of this and were happy when each episode ended and even breathed a huge sigh of relief when the series concluded as it meant we had to endure no more.
A sequel? I hope not although they clearly left the door wide open with the opening endings. We certainly won't be watching if there is one.