Netflix's 'Barbarians' Is Not Even Worth The Short Binge - Forbes

Barbarians is a German series based on the historical Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, where united Germanic armies ambushed several Roman ... BETAThisisaBETAexperience.Youmayopt-outby clickinghereMoreFromForbesApr4,2022,12:15amEDTToday’s‘Wordle’WordOfTheDayAnswer#289:Monday,April4thApr3,2022,11:07amEDTThreeFixes‘Destiny2’StillNeedsAMonthAfterWitchQueenApr3,2022,10:44amEDTIsTheCWGoingToCancelBatwomanAndLegendsOfTomorrow?Apr3,2022,10:09amEDTSomehow,AlphaIsReturningToTheWalkingDeadApr3,2022,09:47amEDTThe‘Daredevil’DefendersMCUCanonDebateIsOverApr3,2022,12:18amEDTToday’s‘Wordle’WordOfTheDayAnswer#288:Sunday,April3rdApr2,2022,10:52amEDTZeroBuildFeelsLikeTheUltimateFutureOf‘Fortnite’Apr2,2022,10:27amEDTHereIsTheEntireFirstEpisodeOf‘Halo,’FreeOnYouTubeEditStoryGamesNetflix’s‘Barbarians’IsNotEvenWorthTheShortBingePaulTassiSeniorContributorOpinionsexpressedbyForbesContributorsaretheirown.GamesNewsandopinionaboutvideogames,television,moviesandtheinternet.Oct28,2020,09:59amEDT|SharetoFacebookSharetoTwitterSharetoLinkedin Barbarians Netflix AsIcontinuetoworkmywaythroughNetflix’scurrenttop10listaspandemiclockdownsescalate(again),thisweekIcametoashowranked#3intheUS,whichmaybewhereitpeaks:Barbarians. It’saGermanserieswithaneye-catchingbitofcover-art,aone-eyed,warpaintedbarbarianwomanscreaminginthemidstofsomesortofbattle.It’sonlysixshortepisodessoitseemedlikeaneasypicktobinge,andyetthroughouttheseries,Ifoundmyselfalmostturningitoffatvariouspoints.Itjustdidn’tconnectwithme. BarbariansisaGermanseriesbasedonthehistoricalBattleoftheTeutoburgForest,whereunitedGermanicarmiesambushedseveralRomanlegions.Here,thebarbariansspeakGermanandtheRomansspeakLatin,whichIimaginewasnoeasytotasktogettheactorstolearn,assuch,thedeliverycanoftenseemabit…off. Barbarians Netflix Barbariansimmediatelybringstomindmorewell-known,bettershowsthatshareasimilaraestheticfromVikingstoTheLastKingdomtoSpartacus.Allofthosearesimplybetterseries,andBarbariansdoeslittletodifferentiateitselffromthatpack. MOREFORYOU‘DemonSlayer’Season2FinallyHasAnActual2021ReleaseDateNetflix’s‘SquidGame’Season2NotASureThing,SaysDirector‘GenshinImpact’StillRefusesToIncreaseAnniversaryRewards,DespiteFanOutcry ThecentralstoryrevolvesaroundaRomanofficer,Arminius,whowasgivenupasatributetotheRomansbyhisGermanictribalchieffather,andraisedtowagewaragainsthisownpeople.Twomembersofhistribe,ThusneldaandFolkwinWolfspeer,havestartedseedingrebellionaftertheRomansstartdemandingtoomuch,andArminiusmustdecidewhereheloyaltieslie.Readingthat,Iamguessingyoucanfigureoutwherethisisgoing. ThusneldaactressJeanneGoursandisreallytheonlytruestandoutofthecast,butsheisnotgiventooterriblymuchtodountiltheveryendoftheserieswhereweseeherinallherone-eyed,battlerageglory.IdidnotcaremuchforArminiusnorreallyunderstandhisinternalstrugglesastheyplayoutonscreen.Folkwinisjustsortofthereasaplotdeviceanddoesnotdevelopasacharactermuchthroughoutthesixepisodes. Barbarians Netflix Evenwithjustsix,40-45minuteepisodesBarbariansfeelslikeitdrags.Inthelead-uptothefinalbattlethereissimplyjustnotenoughtheretoholdaviewer’sinterest,andtheshowseemsveryself-seriouscomparedtoSpartacus,andhasnoultra-charismaticleadlikeVikings’Ragnar.Itjustsortofexistsasfillerbeforethefinalbigbattlewhichisquitegood,butIdon’tbelieveworthwadingthroughthefirstfiveepisodestogettoit. Thereisaglimmerofsomethinginterestinghereintheconcept,buttheexecutionisjusttoomundanetomaketheseriesstandoutamongsimilarofferings.It’sunclearifthiswillbeaNetflix“oneanddone”series(it’snotpitchedthatway,anddoesendonsomethingofacliffhanger),butwiththesetsandcostumesitdoesn’tlookcheap,sobyNetflixstandardsitwilllikelyhavetocontinuetoperformwelltoseeaseason2. Inmyopinion,evenassomeonewholikesthiseraandthesekindsofseries,Ididn’tfindBarbariansworthwhile.You’refreetogiveitashotforyourselfifyoulike,andgetbacktomeifyouthinkI’mmistakenhere.  Followme onTwitter, YouTube and Instagram.Pickupmysci-finovels Herokiller and Herokiller2,andreadmyfirstseries, TheEarthbornTrilogy,whichisalsoon audiobook. PaulTassiPrintReprints&Permissions