Quarry

This is the proof that some shows are worth finishing, even despite my initial impression that the writers couldn’t possibly squeeze anything more out of this purely American subject matter. It’s a story about war veterans in the 1970s who are returning home from Vietnam with some skeletons in their closets and so the entire time, you’re wondering what could’ve happened out there. The continuity often makes no sense, but the story is really brutal. I was pretty much counting on a three-star rating, but the final episode explained everything and completely knocked my socks off. The perfect action-filled scene of the attack on a Vietnamese village has left me feeling sad for the human race as I haven’t seen a war scene this brutal since some of the American anti-war films like Platoon, Full Metal Jacket or Apocalypse Now. (24.04.2018)

The slow-flowing mix of pulsation à la Jim Thompson with the existential drama about the Vietnamese southern (non) being of a returned marine. And it is the specific pace of storytelling that is its strongest point... And the weakest too. It's not boring nor lengthy, it has an impressive atmosphere thanks to the pace, but it's true that a similar style of storytelling in eight episodes, which rather than working independently work better as an eight-hour movie, is not entirely appropriate. Because of that it´s inadvertently tiring, however more than properly constructed, written and performed. (04.02.2017)

This dark existential noir is about searching for lost balance and new life goals after losing one's illusions and honor in the Vietnamese jungle, and upon returning home you discover that nothing is the same as before, and you can only count your losses. No matter where you go, you still feel the mud from the Mekong Delta and for some reason, the image of red poppy fields from the mountain valleys keeps coming back to you. In the end, you realize that it is necessary to return to the one thing that you were so good at... Quarry is an excellent collection of dirty characters, cynical decisions, bloody clashes, hopeless situations, and bitter revelations. It is a series that doesn't rush, keeps many things to itself, and enjoys playing a game with you. The pace might be an obstacle for the younger generation, but I have fallen in love with the special group of "wet work specialists" who solve problems and obstacles for others, and where others speak of dead spots, I find atmosphere and escalating tension. Quarry is a project where the existence of only one season fully satisfies me because I don't need literalness, and sometimes it's better to let your imagination work and come to terms with the fact that the characters keep many secrets to themselves until the very end. Overall impression: 90%. (04.08.2020)