This was a pleasant surprise to find. From the off, I'm a big fan of the original film trilogy which I thoroughly enjoyed, and as a mark of its success the lead actor from the original has gone onto a Hollywood career. This film to TV series is carrying on a recent trait, and personally I was happy to see it here. Season one has definitely lived up to the bill!
Things had to change from the films, so we have a new setting and cast, based round this time mostly amongst some second generation Kurdish and East Africans (?). What we have is a young ambitious single mother who wants to push her tech firm ambitions forward but she doesn't have the resources. Cue drug dealers, drug money, politics, backstabbing friends, naive youngsters and corrupt entrepreneurs, and our lead is found well at the deep end and well over her head. Like the original trilogy, it's no feel good storyline and follows a kind of absurdist notion of reality.
Evin Ahmad ("Leya") as the lead is exceptional and you feel for her, but really you should be in two minds which is the point of the story. All the characters are really quite pathetically selfish and/or sociopathic, and it's cash alone that matters. Any character who finally finds some morality will be struck down, but that's the law of the drug world, and this series ruthlessly depicts that, and especially to all those who naively think they can manipulate it to their advantage.
The storyline is cruel and vicious, but it's also on par with the original trilogy showing the trappings and complications of it all. It's a dog eat dog world in Snabba Cash, and the money is all that matters to these people. Add in a Swedish angel investor who turns out to unsurprisingly not be all that he seems, and that adds to the spice that not all the villains are in the gutters in the drug world. The ending to the entire season is very bittersweet. Everyone is trying to manipulate each other, and morality can frighteningly be a weakness that will see you lose.
It's filmed in the same handheld vision as the original trilogy, and the action scene shootouts may seem excessive but add to the tension. There's very little to criticise as it's at grounded in reality in many ways. The acting is great and you are wanting ever more.
Season one was great. I hope this is the first of a few seasons for this show. Thanks to Netflix for taking this series on. Very well done, and I'll be rewatching this again soon.
