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<blockquote data-quote="Carrie Fairchild" data-source="post: 168491" data-attributes="member: 673">It only took two years but I&#039;ve finally delved into the world of Riviera after seeing that it&#039;s second season was due to premiere. Has anyone else given it a look? It&#039;s part Dynasty, part Bare Essence, part Harold Robbins&#039; The Survivors, part Revenge. After the death of her husband in a yacht explosion, Julia Stiles&#039; Georgina decides to stay in France with her stepfamily rather than taking the loot and leaving (the Bare Essence bit). Said Dynasty-esque stepfamily comprises of Christos (the Fallon character) who dislikes his stepmother and wants her gone, Adam (part Steven / part Adam Carrington) who is close to Georgina but also has secrets and the emotionally fragile Adrianna (part Emma Channing / part Steven) who is closest to her stepmother. Their mother Irina (the Alexis character) is the shady ex-wife who dislikes the new wife who displaced her and who has connections with dodgy businessmen in the area. Georgina is essentially the &quot;Krystle&quot; character in all of this, albeit a slightly heightened version (we never saw Krystle injecting one of her stepchildren with heroin, did we?). Add to all of this a Revenge style plot involving priceless artwork and international business plus Russian oligarchs, casinos, palatial villas, expensive cars, clothes and yachts and beautiful Riviera scenery and you should have the makings of a delicious soap.Alas, it all falls a bit flat. There&#039;s a bit of miscasting to blame for one. I just have no empathy for Julia Stiles character. Additionally, Iwan Rheon feels out of place as does Phil Davis&#039; cop character. The writing is all over the place too, particularly for Georgina but additionally for the rest of the characters. I spent a lot of time wondering what their motivations were for most of their actions. They make little sense a lot of the time. I&#039;m probably expecting a bit too much from what is essentially a primetime soap but the loose plotting feels like something from a show in it&#039;s declining years rather than a tightly written first year of a new show. Granted, there were problems before it aired but I&#039;d be interested to read exactly what Neil Jordan had planned for it before he jumped ship and disowned the show.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Carrie Fairchild, post: 168491, member: 673"] It only took two years but I've finally delved into the world of [I]Riviera [/I]after seeing that it's second season was due to premiere. Has anyone else given it a look? It's part [I]Dynasty[/I], part [I]Bare Essence[/I], part [I]Harold Robbins' The Survivors[/I], part [I]Revenge[/I]. After the death of her husband in a yacht explosion, Julia Stiles' Georgina decides to stay in France with her stepfamily rather than taking the loot and leaving (the [I]Bare Essence[/I] bit). Said Dynasty-esque stepfamily comprises of Christos (the Fallon character) who dislikes his stepmother and wants her gone, Adam (part Steven / part Adam Carrington) who is close to Georgina but also has secrets and the emotionally fragile Adrianna (part Emma Channing / part Steven) who is closest to her stepmother. Their mother Irina (the Alexis character) is the shady ex-wife who dislikes the new wife who displaced her and who has connections with dodgy businessmen in the area. Georgina is essentially the "Krystle" character in all of this, albeit a slightly heightened version (we never saw Krystle injecting one of her stepchildren with heroin, did we?). Add to all of this a [I]Revenge[/I] style plot involving priceless artwork and international business plus Russian oligarchs, casinos, palatial villas, expensive cars, clothes and yachts and beautiful Riviera scenery and you should have the makings of a delicious soap. Alas, it all falls a bit flat. There's a bit of miscasting to blame for one. I just have no empathy for Julia Stiles character. Additionally, Iwan Rheon feels out of place as does Phil Davis' cop character. The writing is all over the place too, particularly for Georgina but additionally for the rest of the characters. I spent a lot of time wondering what their motivations were for most of their actions. They make little sense a lot of the time. I'm probably expecting a bit too much from what is essentially a primetime soap but the loose plotting feels like something from a show in it's declining years rather than a tightly written first year of a new show. Granted, there were problems before it aired but I'd be interested to read exactly what Neil Jordan had planned for it before he jumped ship and disowned the show. [/QUOTE]

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