Summary
Netflix’s Dollar Season 1 attempts to entice you with low-beat mysterious music and quick shocks, but it sticks as a try-hard ‘cat and mouse’ story that feels average.
Whether in Film or TV, all ‘Cat and Mouse’ stories rely on humor, and the injection of action to drive the story to its objective. In the case of the Lebanese Netflix Series Dollar, the chase is to find a single note, with a specific number, and if you claim it via a competition, you win 1 million dollars.
As a premise, it’s promising; the idea is pitched by character Tarek (Adel Karam) to his boss at a large thriving company hoping to launch a bank. The company hopes to engage with large and small customers and thrust the new bank into the limelight. The single dollar bill is circulated, and at the end of the competition, the winner will be announced live on television. Tarek flagrantly wants to cash in from his idea, and Zeina, a work acquaintance, is highly suspicious and tags on to Tarek to track down the note.
It’s easy to point out that Tarek and Zeina both have differing backgrounds; Tarek is struggling to make ends meet, and his laid back style is almost a hindrance to his success, while Zeina has strived to make a relationship work with a man for years, but his lack of ambition and independence has made her disinterested. Dollar season 1 makes a match made in heaven; Tarek’s ambition is Zeina’s new drive — they both have the same goal.
The apparent issue with the Lebanese series is that it is a try-hard. From the opening episode, it attempts to lure its audience with low-beat mysterious music and overly dramatic acting to fuel potential excitement to come. In the present day, the premise is hardly original or groundbreaking, and Dollar makes it feel cleverer than it needs to be.
Its over-inducement of drama numbs the comedy — sidetracking the characters attempt to amuse the audience. As a final wound to the injury, once you hit Episode 3, you soon realize that the Dollar Season 1 is going to repeat the concept repeatedly until the end. The season is 15-episodes, ten episodes too long for what it is worth.
If you enjoy drama and action mixed with a little romance, Netflix Series Dollar Season 1 will momentarily engage your senses, but it will surely bore you after a few chapters.
