New Year's eve 1958 was a fateful date for Ike Evans, the owner of the new Miramar Playa in Miami Beach. Everything was going to be great, if all his plans worked out, but there were clouds threatening to ruin the festivities. A powerful union boss was all set to spoil Ike's big night with his demands for unionizing the hotel workers. It could not have come at a worst time.
At the same time, in Cuba, dictator Batista decided to leave his country and fly to the safe haven of Miami with a large entourage of his cronies. The hotel employed a great number of Cubans so the atmosphere of that day was charged by the reports of impending changes in the neighbor island that would impact Miami in the following years.
We are introduced to Vera, Ike's second wife. We also meet the children, Stevie, who shows all the makings of being a problem, his brother Danny, a law student, and the younger sister Lauren. There is also the older father, Arthur, an old rebel now enjoying his retirement.
There are also secondary characters that will play a big part in the series. Ben Diamond, a man with ties to the underground, proves to be the man Ike needs to see tonight festivities go as expected, for a price, of course. His beautiful, and much younger wife, Lily, will also have an important role in the story as Stevie Evans takes a shine to her charms.
Carl Franklin directed the first episode. The series is a combination of the successful "Mad Men" and other shows like "The Sopranos", "Boardwalk Empire" mixed in the action. The end of the fifties are given a sleek look by Mitch Glazer, its creator, who also wrote the first installment where the main characters are introduced and the tone is set for future episodes.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan plays a virile Ike Evans. He kept reminding this viewer of an older Don Draper, but of course, it is only our opinion. Danny Huston appears as Ben Diamond the man with the underground connections that will probably play a big part in the story. There was lots of sex in the first episode, so that appears to be the norm for the next chapters.
At the same time, in Cuba, dictator Batista decided to leave his country and fly to the safe haven of Miami with a large entourage of his cronies. The hotel employed a great number of Cubans so the atmosphere of that day was charged by the reports of impending changes in the neighbor island that would impact Miami in the following years.
We are introduced to Vera, Ike's second wife. We also meet the children, Stevie, who shows all the makings of being a problem, his brother Danny, a law student, and the younger sister Lauren. There is also the older father, Arthur, an old rebel now enjoying his retirement.
There are also secondary characters that will play a big part in the series. Ben Diamond, a man with ties to the underground, proves to be the man Ike needs to see tonight festivities go as expected, for a price, of course. His beautiful, and much younger wife, Lily, will also have an important role in the story as Stevie Evans takes a shine to her charms.
Carl Franklin directed the first episode. The series is a combination of the successful "Mad Men" and other shows like "The Sopranos", "Boardwalk Empire" mixed in the action. The end of the fifties are given a sleek look by Mitch Glazer, its creator, who also wrote the first installment where the main characters are introduced and the tone is set for future episodes.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan plays a virile Ike Evans. He kept reminding this viewer of an older Don Draper, but of course, it is only our opinion. Danny Huston appears as Ben Diamond the man with the underground connections that will probably play a big part in the story. There was lots of sex in the first episode, so that appears to be the norm for the next chapters.
