Whenever I look at the best mafia style drama's anyone that has any taste at all always puts Gomorrah over the Sopranos in the pecking order so I decided recently I was gonna start watching it. Now many people are turned off Gomorrah because it is subtitled and it needs attention. Even for some Italians the Neapolitan accent could take a bit of getting used to but I think it adds to it. I never minded subtitles because if I am into something I find subtitles are fine because I am concentrating. Right from the off Gomorrah makes the Sopranos look like a Teddybears picnic. These guys are not sitting around in Tony's business all day. They are on the streets and its kill or be killed. It is a more realistic depiction of life in the Camorra in Naples and it is very dark indeed.
The series revolves around the Savastano family who are the top dogs in Naples. Led by Don Pietro (Fortunato Cerlino) whose stare would actually have me curled up in a ball crying and begging for forgiveness. I hope I never meet Fortunato in real life because he scares the be jesus out of me. Next up is his son Genny who is a bit wet behind the ears and the father has concerns if he is up to the job of taking over the family business. Genny is happiest with his friends and doesn't like the whole murdering malarky that comes with being a crime family. The Don has his right hand man Ciro also known as L'immortal because of his great knack of not getting murdered to look after Genny and teach him the ways but Ciro covers for his friend and makes sure that any jobs he gets Genny to do are done. To top this all off there is the Don's wife who Immacolata who is a bit of a schemer herself and she has one eye watching Ciro as she does not trust him. Throw in a mafia drug war and you have the recipe for a great show.
Now when you start Gomorrah you will think it's all a bit amateur but if you stick with it you will be rewarded. My first reward was Season 1 Episode 6 called "Roulette spagnola". With the family in trouble Ciro is sent by Don Pietro's wife to Barcelona to make a deal which is impossible. She is basically sending poor Ciro to his death but L'immortal by name and L'immortal by nature, and the amount of challenges the stone cold killer has that day is nobodies business. What a day that guy had!! If you think you had a bad day then watch this episode. It is the first time I thought that this Gomorrah is special. I have always said Gangs of London Season 1 Episode 5 is one of the best hours of television I have ever watched. But this beats it I think.
Fast forward to Season 3 Episode 3 in a episode called "Inferno". Spolier alert. Immortal is stay alive and he is in Bulgaria. Now bear in mind there has been multiple family members killed in the seasons preceding but for some reason Ciro is in Bulgaria and he has. fallen from grace. But the Bulgarians are a whole lot meaner than the lovely murdering romantic Neapolitan's. So even though Ciro is a blood thirsty killer , you still want him to do some more murdering of these pesky Bulgarian gangs who are big into human trafficking and prostitution. At least the Italian mob had honour. So basically it's all about Ciro in this environment which is compelling and excellent.
Overall Gomorrah is a must watch and it is absolutely quality viewing and one of the best series I have ever watched, Now I am only on Season 3 but it has not dipped yet. The characters are all flawed massively. Death is a constant. Maybe the downside of watching Gomorrah is that it is normally bad news. Ducking and weaving through the politics of mafia life and going from the lowly money collector to the top dog and back down again. You will think at the start the the character Genny is gonna be just an idiot for the whole series but by god does he develop. It is like a different person from season to season. The actor deserves credit. I do always laugh at Ciro's stumpy walk which is not a walk of a top hit man but his head pulls it off I think. There is even a spin off about this guy he is so good in it.
You all need to watch Gomorrah. Its great.
10/10