Man, what a treat it was to watch the first season of The Dublin Murders.
Based on the Dublin Murders Squad book series by Tana French, specifically the first two books in the series: In the woods and The Likeness. Brilliantly adapted for T.V. by Sara Phelps, who is mostly known for adapting Agatha Christie’s A.B.C. detective series for the B.B.C., and the well-received T.V. adaptation of J. K Rowling’s Casual Vacancy.
The story revolves around the murder of a young girl in the woods, and the connection between this most recent murder and an old unsolved mystery regarding the disappearance of two kids in the same woods back to 1985. It is essentially a murder mystery within another mystery, and they are all interlinked. Bringing those two books to create a cohesive story is remarkable. The lead actors are super compelling. Excellent casting of Killian Scott (Detective Rob Reilly), and Sarah Greene (Detective Cassie Maddox); there is immediate chemistry between the two leads from the moment they show up on the screen.
Outstanding performance by Leah McNamara (Rosalind Devlin), she is an actor to keep an eye on future roles.
Most Game of Thrones fans should recognize the actor who played Varys (Conleth Hill), playing O’Kelly, a no-nonsense Captain of the Homicide squad, and he is fantastic on this show also.
The Dublin Murders is incredibly well executed in terms of quality; I admire the way it was shot, the tone and the color palettes capturing the atmosphere, the perverse and nastiness of the world the characters inhabit. Its dark, brutal, unnerving, eerie, but very human.
Audiences are hungry for engaging shows like The Dublin Murders, the type of elaborate shows that require your full attention. You cannot be distracted or be on your phone watching this show. You have to pay attention to everything going on. It is telling you in every scene to follow along, and you’ll know what is going on. It doesn’t dumb things down, its respectful to the audience. Can’t wait for season 2.
Five out of Five Popcorn Bags 🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿
Rod Rioja 