The Glass Dome

There is a series that I have covered before about a mysterious dome that engulfs a city trapping all the inhabitants inside. I really thought this was going to be the same thing…but boy was I wrong. Shot in the Nordic countries, this show does well what I have come to enjoy in many of these productions. They turn the setting into a character. The merciless and plain cold landscapes of the Northern countries do not disappoint in this regard. 

The protagonist returns after living in the Us for a while and is really reliving past trauma. Sometimes when you leave and place for good or for bad, you often hope that just as you have grown and adapted, that it too changes. It is not the case with this young lady. She is now older and an expert in her field but she is still having to face the demons of her past and a kidnapper and killer who seems to be making a comeback. 

Doing all this, the show also explores the idea of immigration and racism, it attempts to also tackle the challenges of environmental degradation and well as family and death. 

While you are busy trying to catch a killer, you are reminded of the punishingly cruel setting and the inhabitants who seems to be cursed into living there. 

The place itself becomes a suspect within the show guilty in a sense for at least killing the dreams and hopes of the residents. 

You feel sorry for the her as forensic psychologist as she tries to get into the mind of this kidnapper while at the same time seeing if there is room for her full return to her home. There is so much history though and too many unanswered questions for us to tolerate this idea. At one point she softens and seems to embrace the idea of love and masculine affection but she is much too bruised to see this through. Does the show have twists? Oh yes it does and quite a number for that matter. Worth it? I think so. 

Dope Thief

There are very few assignments that Apple TV will take on which they will not bring out with the utmost skill and delivery. I have always felt that the Apple Brand was associated with excellence and that the decision of Apple to make some inroads in the world of movies would further prove this fact. 

Dope thief is really a story about friendship and loyalty and yes betrayal as well. Two friends tied together at the hip meeting during their early years, victims of a system and failed state…not nation state and state in the US. Drawn together by troubles they are both involved in and whose friendship and bond will bind them together for the rest of their lives. 

You watch them deal with their past and the challenges of loving and living. One trying to piece together his past and future while healing the pain of his past. Relationship issues with a father who is incarcerated and an adopted mother who lives with him. His childhood friend in the meantime, struggles with an addiction as he manages a life with a lovely lady who is stuck between her love for him and this other guy who wants to take the role she believe is hers. 

Being stuck in a place that has no future and realizing your fate may be bound to this place, the desire to escape is universal but few will get to see it. These two then come up with a hustle that could be their way out of this cursed existence. 

As can be expected things go sideways. The rest of the show is a demonstration of resilience and the struggle to survive against all odds. It is about the triumph of the human spirit and the rescue of broken hearted men by simple acts of love. It is about people trying to prove that they have love even when they are so evidently broken. The show is delivered in a short 8 episodes but much of what has to be said is said. 

Thumbs up for me.