Fat Tony & Co (2014– )

Engrossing tale of crime magnate, Tony Mokbel, played by Mammone who absolutely shines in the role, and truly embodies the part, reportedly stacking on 22 kg's. We follow the ups and downfalls of his organization and how it's relationships, family, whatever. Mostly he suffers more downfalls than ups, with the harassing AFP, consistently trying to bust him. Although we really don't see Mokbel really kill anyone, we see other members of his gang doing the executing. When finally fleeing to Greece, via ship, the walls soon close in on Tony, where he can't run and hide forever, fighting extradition, but eventually losing to this too. Though not the best Underbelly, this too coincides with the original if retelling events, from the first ever Underbelly, that kind of gives it a dejavu, Colosimo's Alphonso coming off as an exaggerated jerk but very feared, and totally fearless, especially around authorities. This did have me questioning, "Was Colosimo overacting?" May'be a bit. Though I must say it was good to see more of him in this one, then to the first Underbelly, where he died basically, opening night, which did for me. Grantley and Hill reprise their roles wonderfully, not changing one iota, though it's Mammone's tour de force performance that gets ya, while sexy Madeline West adds great sex appeal as Mokbel's wife while the actor playing AFP guy, Jared Rushton, is flawlessly solid, while I too liked Shane Jacobson as the head of AFP too, who can be hypocritical, when it comes to overweight. We have some effective but warranted gore and a lot of nice T and A, some nice additional sex scenes too, but really all in all, doesn't measure up to excellence, but the series is one entertaining ride, again mainly due to Mammone's faultless performance. Every actor is so top form, no one lacks. Humour too packs a punch like Grantley's view of being unschooled, or Tony splitting his pants when trying to fix up a hottie's model drink. A definite watch for Underbelly fans, but don't expect the world.