Reviews

In this 10-episode series we are led to side with the character of Toranaga, a Japanese lord whose life, and the life of everyone in his corner, is at risk at the hands of the other ruling regents. The way the show depicts Toranaga at first is the classic take on a strongwilled man, who is vilified because he is too much of a risk to the remainder of the ruling parties. The five men were supposed to rule in unison until the king comes of age, however, one man seems to go against the will of the other four and therefore is persecuted. We are led to believe that the four regents are the vile and egoistical ones, giving in to greed and foreign christian influence over the wellbeing of their own people. Lord Toranaga, on the other hand, supposedly goes against this, wishing to survive and bring prosperity with his vision.

This carefully crafted image shatters in the last minutes of episode 8 and subsequently in ep 10. The man plays the underdog, pretends he is ready to give up so that his followers are all the more riled up and urge him to fight on. He gaslights his generals into signing an agreement to give up, he has his most trusted advisor and lifelong friend commit seppuku as part of his plan. He sacrifices lady Mariko into giving her life to him as well, so that he can free hostages who are on his side and manipulate the king's mother into assisting him. He then orders for the Anjin's ship to be burned and tortures the whole village, killing innocent people, pretending to be looking for the culprits of the burning, all as a twisted test to see how the Anjin would behave. He claims to be humble, to be ready to sacrifice himself for the good of the realm. He is not. He is ruthless, trecherous, absolutely obsessed with power, holding human life in no regard, killing people at whim. And the worst of it all, he will kill off anyone in his circle, be it his loyalists or regular villagers, just to prove a point. There is nothing noble about this man.

This series leaves you wondering whether you have been rooting for the wrong side all along and feeling that all of this 10-hour investment has been wasted. Especially that, after you learn of Toranaga's villainy, there is absolutely no follow up to see how the other characters react to this man having his way and what the fallout of all this is to the general people.

The above headline is, of course, a simplification of the general view, that this series might not be appreciated by anyone not familiar with the political nuances in eastern Europe or Korea throughout the 20th century spanning till now. This show is packed with references to things we here know, experience or have heard from our parents and grandparents.

• the legend of the Three Brothers (Lech, Czech and Rus establishing Poland, the Czech rep and Russia)
• looking for validation in historical heroes (Mussolini and the Roman Empire)
• the great humoungous palaces, dripping in gold, where the tzars live (just look at any of Putin's appearances)
• the absurdly long table for the meeting with the American ambassador (Putin as well)
• the narcissistic and obsession-driven nature of the ruler herself and her staff catering to her every whim out of fear
• the Lenin-like Daddy in a casket (Lenin wiecznie zywy)
• The peaceful annexation of the Faban corridor, with the locals being thrilled to be reunited with their brethren (the annexation of Crimea and onboing war in the Ukraine)
• the obsession with folklore
• the annexation of private estates for 'the people', keeping in mind that the actual people will get none of it
• visits to factories, meetings with children to warmen up one's image, throwing political enemies in jail with no trials
• the language of lies and deception, the complete and utter disregard of the struggles of regular people, deeming all news reports as foreign propaganda

All of this is something we know not from history books but from our surroundings and stories from our families.

The ending of this story was disappointing, yes, I truly wanted Elena to be punished for her narcissism, stupidity and blindness. Then again, how many times are narcissists actually brought to justice?

I will not write a lenghty review, just came here to say this is a fascinating study into the gullible mind of someone who is so simple to be groomed.

What hit me were the words used by the scam artist.

Fighting monsters and demons.

Family business.

Meatsuit.

All of them were used in the show Supernatural, the common phrase attached to the show was 'Saving people, hunting things. The family business'.

The events of this scam took place parallel with the show being on the air so I feel that if Sarma had a little more time on her hands and she watched the show for pleasure, she would see the similarities. The people on the show were also incredulous in the beginning and started believing only when they saw the demons, the monsters. Here? Just a master manipulator who took over a woman who had no time to actually reflect on what she was doing under his influence.

And that theme is greed. Yes, there are some silly errors (e.g. lack of silencers), but the depiction of the characters shows us how they would be enticed to take part in the heist and then to be blinded by the sheer amount of money at their hands. It's great to just sit in your room and say: Oh, this film didn't make sense because Ben Affleck's character ignored the extraction time, or Burning this money was just stupid! Yeah, the evaluation of those actions is right, but they made total sense in the moment of the film. And to those who said that the characters weren't developed enough... are you kidding me? What more do you need, flashbacks? It's a blessing there were none of those, they ruin the flow of the story! One had marital problems and two households to maintain with an unsuccessful career, another was a motivational speaker with a fighter brother, there was a disgraced pilot and a disillusioned police officer. They became greedy, then they ignored the capability of their helicopter, they were too trigger-happy with defending their cargo, resilient to the extreme, had this one moment of just letting go after having lost a large portion of their money and just having fun by making the most costly bonfire ever. It may seem a heist story, but in reality it's a story about greed and the aftermath thereof. Absolutely brilliant.