‘Maestro in Blue’ Netflix Series Review - An Unfamiliar Family

Maestro in Blue is a drama which is set on a beautiful island with not-so-beautiful inhabitants. Orestis is a musician who has been called from Athen to organize the music festival of the island. He slowly and gradually discovers the ugly secrets of this beautiful place. There are a total of nine episodes with a duration of approximately an hour each.

The series starts with a man dragging a body in the middle of the forest. This will tell the audience how the story of Maestro in Blue won’t be so lovely after all despite the appearance. Kelia tells the audience about herself. The narration of the first episode is done by her, the second one is done by Antonis (her brother), and so on. I liked how the narrator changes so that we can get to understand the perspective from different eyes. So, she tells how she is an old-school romantic and likes the time at which she was born. Klelia’s choices are very different from the other individuals of her age, and she takes pride in that.

Orestis arrives in the city and becomes the center of attraction. Maria, a resident whose husband abuses her is seen finding hope in this man. Orestis and Klelia had a past in Corfu which is told in the latter half of the first episode itself. 

In the initial episodes, we are exposed to all the truths and lies prevailing on this island. The audience also gets to witness many beautiful shooting locations. As the show progresses to the end of its second episode, things started to become boring mainly because of the slow pace and how so many sub-plots were being introduced. A story including a stranger coming to a beautiful island could have taken so many turns still, but the writers couldn’t make it into something captivating.

Fanis is running for the Mayor is the island and is seen laundering money. His wife Sofia is also involved in this. The most disappointing thing about this man was that he didn’t even go with his wife when she had to get an abortion. The man instead preferred donating money to the hospital. The character of Fanis is of an overcontrolling father whose family members are suffering in their ways. The wife is on pills, the son is homosexual, and his boyfriend gets beaten up after Fanis gives money to the father, and the girl is seen interacting very less with her parents. They are like a traditional rich family which doesn’t like to share problems but can have food on the dining table three times a day.

In my opinion, Maestro in Blue covers topics like family crises, domestic abuse, corruption, and the phobia of homosexuality. The topics might seem simple, but I liked the way their origins and aftermaths were explained in the series. The characters in the series lacked a solid background and had that been built, it would have been a good one. The places that were selected for the shooting of the series could have been utilized in a better manner and not just for scenic beauty. 

The pandemic scenarios have been included and it is shown how tourism dropped at that time. I’ve fallen in love, a song played in the first episode was a beautiful addition. The pace with which the first episode moved, had it been kept the same, the series would have been very interesting to watch. There’s a crime in the show however, I noticed a lack of excitement to discover who the criminal is because I had my guesses. A series involving crime should be able to build up the interest of the audience, this, however, fails terribly in that area. 

Final Score – [4/10]
Reviewed by - Riya Singh
Follow @_riyasinghhh_ on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times