This eight part French drama opens with young criminal Kenz escaping from prison with his older cellmate Tony Roucas, AKA Crazy Tony. It is the latter man that the police are more concerned about; he is an old school gangster who worked his way to the top of the organised crime ladder killing a lot of people along the way. He also made a lot of enemies; some of whom he blames for his twenty five year incarceration. Over the course of the series we see him making contact with his old 'friends' and learning some surprising things about who he can and can't trust as well as a revelation concerning the child he thought had died twenty five years before.
We also see flashbacks of his life. These start when he was a young boy in the Paris slums where his mother worked as a prostitute and he met criminals every day. As he grows up he becomes part of the local crime gang but quickly outgrows it and starts working for a Marseilles based family. He soon kills his old boss and others who cross him eventually those who he worked for decide it is time to get rid of him.
This series, shown as 'Tony's Revenge' here in the UK, was gripping from start to finish. Tony's story is revealed in a way that means current events are nicely linked to what we see in the flashback scenes. Given the world that Tony operates in it isn't surprising that there is often a sense of threat the viewer may be fairly certain that he will at least survive to the final episode there is no guarantee that other characters will. There are a few shockingly violent moments as well as plenty of darkly comic moments; these are usually provided by Kenz and his low-life friends who think they are gangsters but don't impress Tony. There are some surprising revelations as the story nears its emotional conclusion; I won't spoil them here though. Simon Abkarian does a really fine job as Tony; he makes the character likable and sympathetic even though we he is clearly a dangerous man. Soufiane Guerrab also impresses as Kenz; he manages to be funny without descending into the role of comedy sidekick. The rest of the cast are pretty solid too. Overall I'd recommend this to anybody who enjoys crime drama.
These comments are based on watching the series in French with English subtitles.
We also see flashbacks of his life. These start when he was a young boy in the Paris slums where his mother worked as a prostitute and he met criminals every day. As he grows up he becomes part of the local crime gang but quickly outgrows it and starts working for a Marseilles based family. He soon kills his old boss and others who cross him eventually those who he worked for decide it is time to get rid of him.
This series, shown as 'Tony's Revenge' here in the UK, was gripping from start to finish. Tony's story is revealed in a way that means current events are nicely linked to what we see in the flashback scenes. Given the world that Tony operates in it isn't surprising that there is often a sense of threat the viewer may be fairly certain that he will at least survive to the final episode there is no guarantee that other characters will. There are a few shockingly violent moments as well as plenty of darkly comic moments; these are usually provided by Kenz and his low-life friends who think they are gangsters but don't impress Tony. There are some surprising revelations as the story nears its emotional conclusion; I won't spoil them here though. Simon Abkarian does a really fine job as Tony; he makes the character likable and sympathetic even though we he is clearly a dangerous man. Soufiane Guerrab also impresses as Kenz; he manages to be funny without descending into the role of comedy sidekick. The rest of the cast are pretty solid too. Overall I'd recommend this to anybody who enjoys crime drama.
These comments are based on watching the series in French with English subtitles.