The Serpent (TV Mini Series) Episode #1.5 (2021) User Reviews

[8.6] The bent claw

[cjonesas · 9/10 · 2 April 2022]

Episode 5: The first tiny "9" of the series after 4 narratively "developing" episode. The setting, location, atmosphere, development, camera work and of course good to deceptively brilliant acting, especially by Tahar Rahim's.

IMO, what really happened is not so relevant, this is a dramatization based on real events and is for people who would like to enjoy a TV series, not a documentary or even sets of articles.

In The Serpent, Charles Sobhraj so easily fools almost everybody, making them cry, be in awe or just hypnotized, that one can only praise the superb acting and of course all the actors involved that "breathed" life into this quality production.

Unfortunately, every scene with Knippenberg in it just ruins the magic and is a downgrade to the show. The actor is just itchingly uncharismatic.

Great Episode

[BernhardtFrance · 10/10 · 16 November 2021]

You have to understand that you don't watch a documentary ! So don't pay too much attention on negative critics and take it for what it is meant to be: It's a stunning fiction, just based on real events and don't care about historical facts. It's a very wellmade episode with lots of tension and very good acting, well directed.

Episode 5

[Prismark10 · 6/10 · 7 February 2021]

The Serpent is a BBC/Netflix co-production.

Netflix has form for spinning out dramas for more than its natural length.

It begins to show in episode 5 which is heavily fictionalised. There is a lot of tension only because it is purely for dramatic purposes.

Sobhraj knows that a junior Dutch diplomat is lurking in the shadows and has prepared for this.

With the information from Nadine. Herman Knippenberg finally has the Thai police to make a raid on Sobhraj.

Only for Knippenberg to discover that a little bribery to the the Thai police goes a long way.

There were weak spots. The scenes between Sobhraj and Nadine by the hotel pool did not work for me even though it was dramatic licence.

The American diplomat who talks to Sobhraj who according to his fake passport was born in America but grew up in Puerto Rico. The diplomat is unsure whether Sobhraj is lying. He also could not tell if the passport was fake. I mean Sobhraj was talking to him in a French accent!

Why didn't she LEAVE???

[jwpicton · 6/10 · 12 October 2022]

I'm really enjoying (if that's the right word) this series. It manages to recreate the dreary vibe of sickly 70s murders brilliantly. The innocence and vulnerability of the victims is palpable. Apart from the obvious, I would have to go really deep into this to work out the techniques they are using to achieve this. The feeling and the fear and the awful reality of the killing of one human by another is stomach churningly brought across without unnecessary graphic representations. Very very skilled. In no small part I think the acting of the lead baddy helps to achieve this. He is a truly truly vile and reprehensible character.

The element of control is also something they have brilliantly depicted. It is one of the many things that stresses me out because it is so real. This series is NOT for children.

For those who know British politics.. Before I talk about this episode I just noticed that the baddies devil may care attitude and the Dutch fellows frustration is not dissimilar to a certain parties distainful attitude to just about everything and everyone (except themselves), and another certain parties attempt to do the best they can within the boundaries of the law, for all.

Anyhoo, so I guess you're wondering why I have this episode a 6. Well, I know its a bit mean of me but.... the fact that Nadine is STILL at the apartments (later in the episode) after EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS IN THIS EPISODE is RIDICULOUS. Any of us would have been thinking of contingencies IMMEDIATELY. I don't think anyone including the writers can know for sure exactly who was where exactly when and why (and apparently much of this episode is ballony) but it seems weird and not quite believable that she didn't GET OUT while she had A MASSIVE CHANCE. ESPECIALLY AS THE WHOLE THING IS ABOUT PEOPLE BEING MURDERED. I get annoyed when writers deviate from what normal human behaviour would dictate. Makes the whole thing less believable.

predictable

[Calicodreamin · 6/10 · 6 April 2021]

With three episodes left it was a bit predictable that the raid fell through. This episode felt drawn out and didn't do very much to actually develop the storyline or characters.

Dramatic licence spoils a good story.

[max-695 · 3/10 · 4 January 2021]

Most of the events as portrayed in this episode never happened.

While the series to this point has been visually stunning -- and often unsettling -- at least the plot stayed largely faithful to true events but from part 5, the scriptwriters statt to invent stuff.

In real life, the police never raided Sobhraj's apartment; blaming pressure on resources. Instead, they gave "permission" for Knippenberg and a posse of concerned citizens (including neighbours) to search the flat. By that time Sobhraj and his crew had been gone from Thailand for about a month, probably in Malaysia for more murder and mayhem.

Instead, there's a ludicrous poolside scene, where Sobhraj's punches Nadine in the stomach and noone reacts and she doesn't cry out for help, followed by a ham-fisted raid where our "hero" has the time to clear the safe and stash the fake passports in a briefcase he gave away in a previous scene.

Sobhraj et al then manage to wiggle out of interview questions with the use of an obvious fake passport and eventually bribe their way out of police custody. I'm surprised the Thai police don't sure Netflix/The BBC for defamtion.

In reality, Knippenberg found passports, drugs, syringes and victim's other possessions in the safe, all of which eventually led to a Thai extradition warrant.

What I don't get is that the REAL story is as tense and interesting as any made up one, so why do this?