So, the first series of this French political drama finished on Friday and we can all look forward to the second series this Friday (on that note, I have to say that I would’ve preferred more of a break in between the two!) So, before the series began, I definitely saw this as possibly being the French “House of Cards”, since that was how it was advertised. While the series does have certain similarities, they are obviously quite different.

There isn’t too much to say; I enjoyed this series. Watching the first episode, it did take me a little bit of time to get into it, but I watched it every week and believe that it was always interesting and dramatic. Watching the spin team of a political drama in depth is certainly interesting and the “state falsehood” elements are always engaging, tense and make the audience honestly despise the higher powers that fan the flames of hate and ignorance for their own purposes.

Alison Graham has made it clear that she believes that there weren’t enough credible, strong female characters on the show and, while I don’t fully agree, I can definitely see where she is coming from. “Spin” certainly doesn’t have the great, powerful female characters that “House of Cards” boasts; the character of Valentine is undoubtedly the “girly, cry-y” one, constantly running back to the stone cold, detestable Ludovic and then sitting naked on the bed with her knees pulled up to her chest, smoking and forlornly looking off into the distance. However, I think that Appoline, as well as Anne Visage and the women who work on her team are fine characters. The second series features Carole Bouquet, so I confidently predict that Alison Graham will be satisfied, since the former made for an extremely strong, confident Bond girl!

As a side note, I would also like to say that the “Walter Presents” idea is very clever; presenting shows like “Spin” and “Deutschland 83” under a distinctive character identity is extremely interesting and innovative. I don’t think that I would have actually watched these shows otherwise!

So in summary, this is an interesting, engaging, tense political drama.

Verdict: 4 Stars