'Bad Blood' TV Series Review

I couldn't believe it when I first watched it, I thought it was American gangster TV but hell no, it's bloody Canadian! I nearly laughed out loud while they were laying out the intro. They have gangsters there? Really? I always thought Canada was where the friendly snowman lived so I still have cognitive dissonance till this day.

The show is directed by Simon Barry and currently streaming on Netflix, with Anthony LaPaglia as Montreal crime boss Vito Rizzuto, Kim Coates as his right-hand man Declan Gardiner and various other actors. The main theme was about manipulation, deception, greed, corruption, violence and betrayal. Story-wise, it's familiar but engaging with good dialogues and acting.

Although the computer animation intro was so shitty and painful to the eye I almost abandoned it a few seconds in, I persevered and found out the acting was sound so I watched the entire two seasons.

The first season is based on the 2015 book Business or Blood: Mafia Boss Vito Rizzuto's Last War by Antonio Nicaso and Peter Edwards. It was a Canadian Godfather knock-off. The production was the same old mafia routine. A narcissist and arrogant Don in charge with good people skills, bad temper who is also a womanizer, how typical. The little brat prince is becoming a man, he tries hard to fill into big boys shoes but failing miserably. Right-hand men and minions running around doing the boss' bidding and get slapped around a little as usual. Throw in a couple of goomahs and let them do a little catfight for attention as entertainment just for good measure. 

Most of the characters' personalities and behaviours were predictable as in a typical mafia show. The only character showed depth in character is the Declan guy. I am not surprised they made a second season with Declan as the main character at all. And the way Vito treated Declan was horrendous, how can you welcome someone into the family and go back on your words. That perhaps is the biggest character flaw of Vito and naturally led to his own demise. I understand a man with self-respect in any line of work would not allow anyone to treat him like so. As passionate and loyal as Declan was, he was a man with self-respect. Vito's betrayal meant he's not a man of his words and made Declan's flip easy. 

The second season is entirely fictional and the transition seems inorganic from where the first series left off. New characters such as the evil twins Teresa and Christian Langana who are the children of a mob boss in Italy join the drug party attempting to expand their market into North America. But the spoiled little brats have got no wits about them and Declan refuses to work with them. They went their own way and started to mess things up for everyone while killing the youth with their fentanyl. They cause gang conflicts within the Cosoleto crime family in Hamilton and more dramas to follow. The twins' acting was terrible, to say the least, they did not appear to be professional actors at all.

It reminded me of something very familiar in The Sopranos but much more professionally done. See, that's the thing, if you make a crime series like this, expect the viewers to be mafia literate. Reality or fiction wise, some would likely to know far and wide in this field, therefore, it is best not to throw too many déjà vu storylines in their faces if you don't want the viewers to take your mediocre regurgitations as insults to their intelligence.

Nevertheless, the second season is much better in the development of the Declan character. It grew out of the old fashioned mafia box with the main character going lone wolf, managing and directing the whole crime ring while dealing with complications with the other crime factions all at the same time. Not surprisingly, the entire weight of the series falls on Kim Coate's acting. As a seasoned actor with decades of professional acting under his belt, he did not disappoint and single-handedly nailed the season with his charm along. I found the sideline story with his brother Reggie a very nice touch, shows his humane side. And I agree that the way he dealt with his drug addict father was wise.

Another nice sentiment amongst all the violence was that an Indian love interest in the form of the partner in crime named Rose played by Sharon Taylor was also introduced which is refreshing. The two seem to have the chemistry between them all along. But overall, fiction is fiction, the lone wolf Don and faithful lover thing for a psychopathic criminal is very unlikely to take off in reality.

Overall, if you are into crime and violence, this is a show for you! If you love Kim Coates, this is a show for you! If you love Kim Coates acting as a badass but still showing his complex humanity, this is a show for you! Grab a seat and enjoy!