Maestro in Blue review: Sluggish narrative is filled with cliches

Maestro in Blue follows Orestis, a musician who is invited to a small island to revive a music festival but gets tangled up in the lives of the locals and a murder that takes place later. The series is now streaming on Netflix.

Story

Orestis is invited to Paxos by Fanis, who is planning to run for mayor of the small island. Fanis wants to revive the island’s music festival to boost local morale and increase his chances of being elected.

Upon arriving, Orestis first meets Klelia, the daughter of Fanis, who shows him the way to the place he is looking for. He is then introduced to Maria, who will be lending him a hand in finding talent for the festival, her son, Spyros, and her husband, Charalambos.

Later, Orestis gets acquainted with Fanis’ family, which, apart from Fanis and Klelia, also includes Klelia’s mother, Sofia, Klelia’s brother, Antonis, and her grandmother, Haris.

At first glance, they look like an ideal family. Deep down, they have problems of their own. It turns out that Klelia has met Orestis before. Sofia is having an affair, and Antonis is in love with Charalambos’ son, Spyros—a relationship their fathers will never approve of.

Most importantly, Fanis is also into illegal activities like money laundering. While both of Fanis’ kids go against their parent’s wishes, Fanis’ secret slowly unravels. Orestis, on the other hand, gets more involved in the lives of the people around him, and soon trouble comes knocking on his door.

Performances

Both Christopher Papakaliatis, as Orestis, and Klelia Andriolatou, as Klelia, don’t try too hard to portray their characters since they are not that complex.

Orestis is an easy-going music teacher who is quite open, and Klelia is that old-school teenager who doesn’t fancy modern times or things that have been taught to her. They resemble the typical romantic comedy couple.

While their chemistry isn’t that bad, they get heavily overshadowed by Orestis Chalkias, who plays Antonis, and Yorgos Benos, who plays Spyros. It feels like Chalkias and Benos are challenged to deliver, and they channel that forbidden relationship well.

Fanis Mouratidis, as Fanis, and Marisha Triantafyllidou, as Sofia, have done a decent job. Mouratidis certainly looks conflicted when he tries to save his family’s name and be a good father at the same time.

Stefania Goulioti, as Alexandra, is a wild card who gets one episode to shine, but she leaves a mark. She is able to establish the distance between her character and Papakaliatis’ and reflect the immense frustration of her character when the time comes.

Positives

Maestro in Blue is able to grasp a viewer’s attention through its beautiful cinematography. The island, the sea, and the houses give the viewers a sense of calm. It hints that nothing can go wrong at a place like this before delving deep into the secrets of the people living here.

Every episode allows a different character to narrate the story from their side. Some of these stories did have a great build and are worth exploring. For example, one starts understanding why Maria faces Charalambos’ abuse and what made Charalambos the way he is.

Negatives

The show heavily suffers from its slow pace. At times, it feels like it is circling around the same plot again and again. It even drags scenes way too far to establish a thought that the viewers have already acknowledged from a scene before.

This slow pace kills the mystery the show establishes right at the beginning and end of every episode.

The backstories might be fleshed out, but they don’t have the right depth. Many of the characters don’t have that charm that will make the viewers care about them. Maybe because the viewers have already seen these predictable, cliched stories unfold many times in shows like these.

The characters of Fanis and Charalambos do bring a conservative mindset that creates conflict, but these minds aren’t explored properly. Furthermore, when these storylines come to a big end, the impact isn’t felt either.

Verdict

Maestro in Blue is a slow and dull watch that might have you tuned in for the first episode only. After that, everything goes downhill, as it doesn’t offer a single reason for the viewers to hold on.

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Also Read: Maestro in Blue ending explained: Who killed Charalambos?