Summary
50M2 is an average, tasty, action drama with a little comedy for good measure, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
This review of Turkish Netflix series 50M2 season 1 contains no spoilers. The thriller was released on the streaming service on January 27, 2021.
As we head to the back-end of January, we become accustomed to that start-of-the-year slog on TV. Platforms seem to call the month off, and accept that things will get juicy in the second quarter. But that’s not to say there’s nothing worth watching that is new. If you fancy an international series, Turkish Netflix series 50M2 maybe the action-fuelled drama you were looking for to console your last weekend of a very depressing month.
There’s something about the main character (Shadow) in the opening sequences; he’s a drinker, enjoys his smoothies in the morning and he cockily fends off any attackers; he’s the typical, smug henchman that gets his own way. The appeal is clear. The confident hitman takes center stage. The premise takes a dark turn when he learns his long-time benefactor may have answers to his parents; clearly, violent ones. The story turns from hitman to hitman hunted — the first episode is high-octane, with a comedy tinge.
There’s something slightly quirky about 50M2 season 1 that is not immediately apparent; the Turkish series sells this gritty underworld of an ousted henchman. It manages to bring in a sly amount of amusement in some scenes. The character is deliberately coy — the kind of coy that tends to be attached to protagonist Spiderman. Although the comparison is a stretch, there’s nothing more engaging than watching a henchman communicate with his attacker as he dismantles him.
Eventually, the story moves to a new phase — one where Shadow hides out in a tailor shop, where he’s mistaken for the late owner’s son. Rather than explain that he has no relation, in dangerous desperation, Shadow embraces the identity.
But Netflix’s 50M2 loses its appeal very quickly. It becomes everything we have seen before, and it relies too much on the selling points that remain on the surface. Revenge tales work when there’s an intense emotion displayed by the lead character. The Netflix series lacks that energy and is essentially a good excuse to make a crime story.
But, that’s not to say it isn’t binge-worthy — 50M2 is an average, tasty, action drama with a little comedy for good measure, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
