A new Polish crime drama on Netflix seems to have a complex plot, but in reality it doesn’t. There is just a lot of stuff going on while the actually simple plot plays out. How is that possible? Read below to find out.
Opening Shot: A group of military-clad police officers go up to the door of a darkened house before blowing up the front door to go in.
The Gist: During this raid, one of the officers, Oskar Gwiazda (Piotr Witkowski), thinks his headphones are malfunctioning. Then he zones out because of a panic attack or some other thing going on in his head. While he can’t think straight, one of his fellow officers gets shot by one of the targets of the raid.
After getting questioned by his boss, and finding out his friend died, Oskar goes home to his father, who is happy because he won his bet that day. Of course, he borrowed money to do it, which Oskar has to pay back. When his dad dramatically suggests that he’ll just kill himself rather than mess up everyone’s lives, Oskar snidely tells him to do it. When Oskar wakes up the next day, he finds that his dad has done just that.
As Oskar goes through his dad’s finances with his sister (Aleksandra Adamska) and her husband Sylwek (Konrad Eleryk), Marta determines that they have to sell their dad’s large house in order to pay down the debt. Oskar, though, thinks there are ways to pay it without selling the family home. However, that becomes harder to do once they realize that their dad owns a “financial advisor” an even larger sum of money.
Two months later, Oskar is adamant that he won’t sell the house, which is putting both him as well as Marta and Sylwek under a lot of financial strain. It’s to the point where Sylwek won’t even talk to his old friend; the two of them go back to their military days.
In order to make money, Oskar has rented the house to be used as a brothel. And, after leaving the police, he gets a job as a security guard at a large clothing marketplace where most of the transactions are in cash and under the table. While following a woman named Jewa (Anastasiia Pustovit), who works at one of the shops, he observes the owner of the shop counting stacks of cash, which gives him an idea about how to more quickly pay off the debts. But he also wants to get to know Jewa more.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Kind of a Robin Hood-ish take on the Breaking Bad theme of a good man who goes bad over extreme family circumstances.
Our Take: We didn’t really explain what happens after Oskar hatches his idea because the rest of the hour-long first episode of Go Ahead, Brother involves following the guy around, finding out he works for a larger crime family, and executing his plan. He gets some help from a surprising source, but most of the second half of the episode is relatively straightforward.
Because of how much detail the world around Marta and Sylwek is given, it’s not a stretch to think that Sylwek will reluctantly get involved in Oskar’s illegal enterprise. He has two reasons to do so: One is to get out of Marta’s share of her father’s debts, but it’s also to help his old friend straighten himself out. That dynamic will drive a lot of the season, mainly because Sylwek is still a special ops police officer, as will Oskar’s continuing romantic stalking of Jewa.
Go Ahead, Brother is one of those shows that’s entertaining enough that you don’t even think about the plot’s flaws in logic until well after you’ve watched an episode. The debts that Oskar’s father have incurred are confusingly vague, and what the crime family he targets actually deals in is also vague. But the first episode has a good amount of tension and action, which is why it seems that it’s much better put together than it actually is.
Sex and Skin: There are nude scenes in the brothel.
Parting Shot: Oskar is helped out of a tight spot and is surprised to see who is helping him.
Sleeper Star: Besides being a go-between between her brother and her husband, we’re not sure exactly what Aleksandra Adamska’s role of Marta will be. We did, however, appreciate her character, who’s pregnant, dressing up like Marilyn Monroe for Sylwek’s birthday.
Most Pilot-y Line: “I don’t like you, but I’m trying to help you,” says Oskar’s boss after the botched raid.
Our Call: STREAM IT. There seems to be a lot going on in Go Ahead, Brother, but in service of a plot that’s deceivingly simple. Your mileage may vary as to whether you find all of the extra stuff annoying or entertaining.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.
