THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING ~ IRREDEEMABLES

IRREDEEMABLES

Who can investigate impossible to solve criminal case better than convicted felons? Police colonel Stadnik has always dreamt of repeating the 19th century experiment of the legendary French detective Eugène Vidocq, who formed the most effective investigative division in Paris exclusively from the ranks of prisoners. Once he gets his chance, Stadnik creates a special unit within his own department...A sentenced criminologists with shady past, a female ex-police detective who murdered the killer of her daughter, and a male ex-police detective convicted of corruption, who must solve the most complicated cases in order to get back their jobs and their freedom...

The Russian TV cop shows I’ve watched via Amazon Prime are almost perfect clones of their American and British counterparts. There is nothing new, not even anything specifically Russian to make them stand out. As such, there is a lot of dross along with the occasional rough diamond. I do, however, have a favorite, Irredeemables.

The show’s premise is ridiculous: A team of convicted felons—one of whom is basically Sherlock Holmes only with a savant’s knowledge of the Bertillon facial measurement system—are brought together to crack cases the cops can’t. But, while its DNA can be traced directly back to bad ‘80s American and UK cop shows, it is made watchable by slightly higher than average production values (compared to other Russian shows I’ve watched) and competent (if uninspired) writing, directing, and acting.

While my suspension of disbelief was threatened by the basic idea behind Irredeemables, the execution of the show was smooth enough to keep me watching. I even came to like the three leads—Daniel White (the Sherlockian savant), Dmitry Shevchenko (channeling Robert Shaw as Red Grant in From Russia With Love), and Anna Donchenko (the requisite hot Russian chick who can kick your ass), and there were several surprisingly unexpected (while still unoriginal) story twists. All in all, it’s worth giving the show a couple of episodes to grow on you as it did on me. I began watching with low expectations, but came away entertained enough to binge watch the first season. It’s in Russian with English subtitles, which were written by somebody for whom English is definitely a second language.