A Quirky Detective Series with a Great Cast, but a Few Missteps

I've got a bunch of TV shows to keep up with, so I try to stay on top of the latest releases and pick ones that fit my mood. Undercover in Rybinsk caught my eye because I hadn't watched an ironic detective series in a while.

GENERAL INFO

Genre: detective, comedy, thrillerDirectors: Petr Todorovsky Jr.Number of episodes: 8Country of production: Russia\xa0

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

A journalist from a small provincial town, Yuri, has spent his whole life writing unremarkable news stories for the local paper. But then something unexpected happens to Yuri – he starts having visions that predict murders happening in Rybinsk, all without anyone noticing. Things get complicated when Yuri becomes the prime suspect in one of the cases.

CAST

Timofey Tribunetsky as Yuri Nikolaevich Malcev

He's a journalist at the local Rybinsk paper, Volga Herald. He's married, and his 17-year-old daughter looks up to him. He's a bit of a drinker, and it's pretty clear that it's affecting his life. He's even started having these weird seizures that look like epilepsy. And that's when it hits him – he's got this supernatural ability to see tiny glimpses of crimes that are about to happen in Rybinsk. It turns out, drinking too much isn't the best idea if you want to develop this 'gift'.

His wife has left him, and his daughter doesn't think much of him anymore. The show's creators seem to be using Yuri's story to subtly show how drinking can lead you down the wrong path.Anton Vasilev as Konstantin Lukyanov

I was pleasantly surprised to see Anton Vasilev in this show. He's one of my favorite actors, and he's absolutely fantastic here. He plays the lead of a local TV host, who seems to have it all – a fancy car, a nice apartment, and a bunch of influential friends. But it's hard to believe that a TV host in a small town like Rybinsk would have all that. Plus, he's got some pretty shady connections, like a friend who's running for local office. <\/div><\/div>One day, the whole world is turned upside down for this guy, and now he's got to find ways out of seemingly insurmountable problems.

I don't know how they've wrapped up his storyline, but so far, it's all pretty predictable.

Ruzil Minakayev as Sasha Shirmanov

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<\/div><\/div>If you've seen the series Slovo Patsana, you'll probably recognize it right away. He's not strayed too far from his past persona here - reckless and always up for a good time.

It's fate that brings him together with the main character, Yuri, and now they're in the same boat.

Yuliya Khlynina as Zoya

<\/div><\/div> <\/div><\/div>He works in the police, investigating crimes.

The girl is smart, beautiful, and dating Konstantin. It's weird that she doesn't live with him, considering she basically thinks of him as her fiancé, almost her husband.

GENERAL IMPRESSION

The series is billed as an ironic detective, so you've got to watch it with a light heart.

Personally, I think an ironic detective is a tough genre to nail, as you've got to make the serious stuff seem funny. But the humor here is pretty specific, and while it's suited for this genre, it could be funnier more often - usually, it falls flat.

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<\/div><\/div> <\/div><\/div>We see several murders right off the bat. If some of the murders are obvious and don't leave any mystery, then there's a murder that's been cleverly hidden, and it's not clear who committed it or why. Plus, it's not even clear if these crimes are connected or not.

The characters don't really react to the deaths of their loved ones - they don't cry or mourn. It looks a bit strange, like someone who's just suffered a huge loss is suddenly just fine and laughing it off.

Or take, for example, a car that's on fire, which probably belonged to someone who's barely scraping by. But hey, I'll just walk. In general, it's all pretty absurd and ridiculous. What can you do, it's just the genre.

The city is portrayed as a bit of a dump, despite having 170,000 inhabitants, according to one of the characters.

I've never even heard of Rybinsk, let alone visited it - it's a tiny place on the map. The whole town feels kinda forgotten, like it's stuck in the past. Even the newspaper and police look like they're from the 90s.

Honestly, I'm still not sure what the point of the show is. The detective storyline is super weak and kinda secondary. They just keep killing people and investigating, but it's not really interesting to watch. Maybe the main idea is that the main character, a journalist named Yuri, tries to turn his life around and save others, but that's not really gripping either. After watching three episodes, I'm not feeling the hype.Each episode has its own name.

The actors are great, but I've seen some of them in similar roles before - like Minyaylova and Tribuncheva. During my watch, I remembered another show called Heavenly Center that was released recently. It also has black humor, but it's way more engaging and the humor is actually woven into the story. Overheard in Rybinsk has its moments where the plot falters and gets boring. It's like they're trying to be funny with these little jokes and one-liners, but sometimes the dialogue is just pointless. The only thing that saves it is the acting, especially from Vasilev. If it wasn't for him, I probably would've dropped the show.My impression is mixed. The storyline is kinda unique and the genre is interesting, but I feel like it's missing quality humor.