Better Than Us
Russian with English Subtitles
Season 1 (2019) – 16 Episodes approx. 52 minutes each
Season 2 (2020) - TBD
5 out of 5 paws
Better Than Us is a Russian TV series that was first sold to Netflix as a Netflix Original. The story takes place in 2029 where robots serve humans in various support positions – clerks, butlers, maids, sex workers, etc. Robots have to adhere to Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotic – 1. A robot may not harm a human or allow a human to come to harm through inaction 2. A robot must obey humans unless orders are in conflict with law 1. 3. A robot must protect it’s existence unless it interferes with laws 1 and 2. A Chinese engineer has created an advanced robot named Arisa - she is programmed to be a wife to a man and a mother and caretaker of children – and is designed to protect her family, which includes herself. Apparently Arisa does not abide by the three laws. Her creator dies and Arisa is sold to the Russian CRONOS corporation to be their prototype for a new line of super robots. Her accompanying manual is missing 10 pages and Arisa accidentally kills a man. She encounters little Sonia and automatically bonds with her and makes herself the child's guardian. Sonia’s father, Georgy, is the medical examiner at the morgue where the dead man’s corpse shows up – he realizes something is horribly wrong with the excuse that CRONOS gave for his demise. Sonia’s brother, Igor, gets mixed up with group called the ‘Liquidators’ – whose purpose is to destroy all robots. Arisa now has a family – little Sonia, Georgy, and Igor – and she will protect them at any cost. The series follows three storylines: that of Arisa and the family whom she adopts; Egor and his girlfriend Zhanna, who is the sister of the leader of the Liquidators; and the secrets of Viktor Toropov, the head of CRONOS, as he tries to hide the fact that they cannot make another Arisa in order to make the new line of robots. ‘Better Than Us’ starts off as science fiction light – but it’s not really about the technology – it’s more a story about the family, evolving emotions … and love. The cinematography is superb, the plot lines intricate and well scripted, and the acting is outstanding – from little Sonia, to Arisa (played by Paulina Andreeva who also had major parts in ‘The Method’ and ‘Locust’) and Georgy (Kirill Karo, who also had major parts in / as ‘The Sniffer’ ). ‘Better Than Us’ debuted in Russia as two seasons of 8 episodes each – Netflix bundled them into 1 season of 16 episodes. There will be a Season 2 on Netflix, but the dates have not yet been released.
Fartsa
Russian with English Subtitles
Season 1 (2015) – 8 Episodes approx. 52 minutes each
4 out of 5 paws
This Russian series kicks off in Moscow in 1961. Four childhood friends - Kostya, Andrei, Boris, and Sanya - decide to go into business together — a very illegal business, which can result in jail time if they get caught. Kostya has become heavily in debt to Russian mobsters and his friends decide to help him. They become “fartsovshchik” - black-market retailers who sell contraband Western clothing and bootleg recordings of American singers and bands. Andrei has a girlfriend, Nadya, whose father – Major Vostrikov – is in charge of hunting down the black marketeers, completely unaware that he already knows them. Fartsa is an interesting look at Russia back in the ‘60s through the ‘80s – it’s an exciting time – the space race, American / Soviet relations, etc. – and the actors are refreshing, funny, and sad; another generation lost in time.
Locust
Russian with English Subtitles
Season 1 (2014) – 4 Episodes approx. 50 minutes each
4 out of 5 paws
“Locust” is a psychological thriller about two star-crossed lovers whose romantic journey starts off as a simple enjoyable tale that eventually goes horribly wrong. Lera is the twenty-year old daughter of a wealthy family. Artyom is a migrant contractor and aspiring poet who arrives to do work around her parents’ summer home. They fall deeply in love but when autumn arrives Lera has to go work in Moscow with her father’s close friend and business ally, Gurevich. Lera’s family financial security rests on her marrying Gurevich. Artyom, who has been promised a writing job by Gurevich, decides to follow Lera to Moscow. When Lera’s family falls on hard times she ends up marrying Gurevich. Artyom, heartbroken and financially broke, ends up marrying a rich Moscow heiress, Irina. After a year Lera and Artyom resume their clandestine, tumultuous romance. Lera can’t stand being married to Gurevich, but without him her family will be in financial distress. Artyom, who despises Irina for being a drunk, wants rid of her, but then he too will face financial ruin. What starts off as a simple solution to Lera and Artyom’s problems becomes increasing nightmarish. Who lives, who dies, who ends up in jail? “Locust” starts off extremely slow, but builds up into an intense psychological thriller. Paulina Andreeva, who plays Lera, is also in the excellent Russian series “The Method”
Silver Spoon
Russian with English Subtitles
Season 1 (2014) – 12 Episodes approx. 52 minutes each
Season 2 (2015) – 12 Episodes approx. 52 minutes each
Season 3 (2019) – TBA
4 out of 5 paws
This was the first series that Netflix brought out of Russia. Igor is a wealthy spoiled entitled playboy whose only goal in life appears to be have fun and party hard. One night, while street racing with his drugged-up friend, he gets arrested by a pair of police detectives and thrown in jail. His father, a super rich oligarch, gets him sprung from jail the next day and, in an effort to get Igor to straighten out his life, has him assigned as a junior police detective for a year. Sounds farfetched, Nyet? Well, apparently in Russia if you have the money and power you can do anything. Of course the detective team that Igor gets assigned to – wait for it – has the same two detectives on it that arrested him!! And a beautiful, no nonsense, female captain in charge of it. He starts off treating the job as a joke; the other detectives don’t want anything to do with him and believe that he won’t last a week before quitting. Igor slowly finds that he has a knack for solving crimes and starts enjoying the job. His partners can’t stand him and want him out of there без промедления ! (pronto). And Igor, whose mother died when he was young, starts investigating her case – was it suicide or murder? The series starts off slow, but becomes more and more engaging as Igor learns his new job and solves small cases – to the chagrin of his partners. I’ve only watched the first 3 episodes of Season 1, but I like it – lots of comedy along with the drama – great acting, lots of Russian scenery – I’ve heard season 2 is even better and there is a season 3 (but not on Netflix yet).
Sparta
Russian with English Subtitles
Season 1 (2018) – 8 Episodes approx.. 52 minutes each
4 out of 5 paws
The mysterious death of a teacher who throws herself out of a window at a St. Petersburg school attracts the attention of law enforcement. A local detective interrogates the students of the deceased and learns about the addictive high-stakes video game Sparta, which blurs the line between the real and the virtual world.
Did the teacher commit suicide or was she the victim of a teenaged Sparta player?
The Method
Season 1 (2015) – 16 Episodes of approx. 53 minutes each
Season 2 (2019) - TBA
4 out of 5 paws
The series starts with a recent law-school graduate who has been apprenticed to a special detective of the FSB being debriefed by the Security Committee. Esenya Steklova, the daughter of a high-ranking army official, has been haunted since childhood with the unsolved murder of her mother. Rodion Meglin is an eccentric detective known for three things – his brutal approach to investigation; his clearance rate with serial killer cases; and being able to solve unsolvable cases. He is also, unfortunately, a drunk and a drug addict. And, he always worked solo, until Esenya asked to work with him. Through a series of flashbacks we learn how Esenya got her father to get her assigned as a trainee to Meglin after seeing him apprehend a killer at her graduation party. She believes that if she learns his “method” that she will be able to solve the murder of her mother. It soon turns out that there is no “method”, Meglin is basically a psychotic who understands how psychotic’s minds work. The Method is a dark unpredictable psychological thriller that starts off slow, but quickly gets you absorbed in the strange cases that Esenya and Meglin get assigned to. And the present day debriefing of Esenya … where did the cases lead to … and what happened to Meglin?
The Sniffer
Russian with English Subtitles
Season 1 (2017) - 8 Episodes approx.. 52 minutes each
Season 2 (2018) - 8 Episodes approx.. 52 minutes each
Season 3 (2010) - 8 Episodes approx.. 52 minutes each
4 out of 5 paws
Season 1
The Sniffer is a Ukrainian TV series recorded in Russian. The show has two main characters, “The Sniffer” and his childhood friend Victor, who is a Colonel in the Special Bureau of Investigation which is the national police force. The Sniffer has an extraordinary sense of smell which allows him to deduce the details of a crime or even legitimate actions just by inhaling deeply. He has a hysterical ex-wife, Julia who continually shows up at awkward moments by either asking for money or for help in disciplining their 15-year-old son Alex. Alex keeps getting in trouble. Julia keeps blaming The Sniffer. The son hates his mother and tolerates his father because the latter gives him money. The Sniffer is morose and solitary. He is apparently quite wealthy -he lives in a large building in which he appears to be the only resident and his high-end Challenger is the only one in the building’s underground garage. The emotional tone of the show varies from stark brutality to wry humor. Each show mostly focuses on a single crime, but there’s an ongoing plot involving The Sniffer’s family problems as well as some secret military organization in the background . When The Sniffer identifies a suspect or a witness by their scent at the scene of the crime, a gauzy picture of the person, or the events that happened appears on the screen. “The Sniffer” is enjoyable, but so far I have found the plots to be fairly simple, but I am already looking forward to the next season.
Season 2
Season 2 is much darker – Tatyana, the sniffer’s doctor and love interest from Season 1, is suffering from PTSD and is relegated to a psychiatric hospital; The Sniffer appears to have memory blackouts and is involved in some shady activities; Viktor, the SBI colonel, is investigating a secret paramilitary band of vigilantes who he believes The Sniffer is part of; Julia, The Sniffer’s ex-wife, has a new lover and becomes pregnant – but by whom; Alex, The Sniffer’s son – has pretty much a useless part and I don’t know why they included him in the series. The Sniffer has moved across the river to a bigger building with a larger laboratory. The plots are stronger, the special effects are even better, and all of the teasers throughout season 2 are fully explained in the smash bang conclusion.
Season 3
I have just started watching Season 3 - In season 3, the Sniffer is set to encounter even more sophisticated criminals who are already aware of his abilities. The format is a little different too, with the first few episodes taking place outside the major city in seasons 1 and 2 (the city was never named, supposed to be Moscow, but was actually Kiev, in the Ukraine). You get to see more of the Russian countryside as well as Estonia and its’ capital, Tallinn. There are more subplots happening outside the individual crimes solved / almost solved each episode. The Sniffer’s father has died, leaving a mystery in its’ wake; Viktor, the SBI colonel, is trying to hook up with the new Medical Examiner from Season 2, Irina; Julia, the Sniffer’s ex-wife, is trying to buy a new house for her and her unborn child. The plots are more intricate, the cinematography is excellent, and hard to believe, the special effects keep getting better and better. Season 4 has just been announced and hopefully will be on Netflix in the near future.
To The Lake
Russian with English Subtitles
Season 1 (2019) – 9 Episodes approx. 53 minutes each
4 out of 5 paws
‘To the Lake’ is an original Netflix Series about how society rapidly degenerates when a deadly virus / pandemic spreads across Russia. Sound familiar? Well, this series was filmed in 2019 – a full year before COVID spread around the world. Mind you, this virus is much more lethal and fast acting than COVID – it only takes 4 days from being exposed to the virus to a rather violent death – vomiting blood, irises turning milky white, and violent contractions. The series starts off with a number of announcements by the Russian media that a flu like virus is spreading quickly around Moscow and what the government is doing to contain it. Pretty soon Moscow is cut off from the rest of the world and only food trucks are allowed into the city. The virus spreads out into the countryside and wide spread panic takes over – the government falls, there is no telecommunications (internet, tv, radio) and anarchy prevails – looting, rape, random killings by armed groups of thugs – no law and order left at all. ‘To the Lake’ follows two groups of people trying to escape to a lake in Karelia (North West Russian, up by Finland) where they should be safe from the virus. There’s Sergey, his new wife Anna, his son Misha (who has Asperger’s Syndrome); his bitter ex-wife Ira, their other son Anton, and his father Boris. The other group consists of Lyona – a rich obnoxious creep, his new pregnant wife Marina, and Polina – his spoiled daughter who has just been released from rehab. After some close (and deadly) attacks from armed gangs the two groups form a caravan of three vehicles to head to the lake in Karelia where Boris has built a home from a stranded ship on an island. Of course there are a few obstacles in their way – the lake is 1000 kilometers (620 miles) north; it’s the middle of a Russian winter; people they meet may be infected, cannibals, or likely to open fire without provocation. ‘To the Lake’ is beautifully filmed, the acting excellent, and a stark reminder of our current situation with COVID – and how things can go horribly wrong in a pandemic.