Slow burner... worth persevering with and deserving of a second series. Some of the persevered "Englishness" was plain dumb, such as the cricket match taking place in a cow field! But on the whole an enjoyable series. It grew darker as it progressed.
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mikecfox20 February 2019
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dkdm-418121 October 2019I really liked the show's first 2 episodes and till some extent episode 3 also was quite intriguing. However, since episode 4 you'll find loosing interest in the show, maybe not enough to leave the series then and there but certainly, you wont be fascinated to watch every second of the show. The ending was simple and was hurried into. I think there was no proper closure between the characters. The acting was also not out of the world and can be said as just justifying what role demanded and not over and above.
As a suggestion, if you watch alot of tv shows and take it quite seriously, dont waste your time on this show. -
alnewcastle124 February 2019I've watched all 6 episodes and I wasn't bored at all. In fact I hope there's a second series.
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Vindelander4 July 2020A very good series imo and a cross between Foyle's War and Bridge Of Spies in atmosphere. Convoluted plot and very loosely based on Britain and her allies' history around the time of the partition of Palestine post WW2. Not to be taken too literally which is why some reviewers have criticised the series.
Good cast and acting and thoroughly enjoyable if you like a good spy story. John Le Carré would not have been ashamed of this. -
annlevtex15 November 2021This show got off to a very good start, for me. Emma Appleton, beautiful and talented, came out of the gate strong as the sexually liberated and strong-willed Fiona ("Feef"), who agrees to help a renegade American agent ferret out Russian sympathizers in the British government. It narrows in on an important and relatively unexplored transition era in history, when the war is over, Churchill is out and Labor takes charge, and the question of who is a friend and who an enemy is suddenly murky.
The cast overall is strong, particularly Keeley Hawes as a co-worker who draws Feef's suspicion and sympathy. Hawes' gives such a fine, nuanced performance that she eventually overshadows not only Appleton but the cause Feef embraces, which is to say, "England at all costs." Hawes' and Emma's lover, an idealistic young Labor representative, make a persuasive case for their view: that the poor in England had suffered and sacrificed too much and for too long under the class system and for the Empire, and it was time for change.
This is where the show kind of lost me. Feef is strong and idealistic in her own way, but she ends up being pulled in so many directions by circumstances and manipulative people that she seems lost at the end. The pacing of the series lurches about after the first couple of episodes, and things get spread a little too thin....or thick. It's all a bit much.
There are side plots involving a young African American driver and a Jewish woman who wants to see a homeland for her people created in what would become Israel. Both are interesting and well-acted, but when the latter becomes central to the story toward the end, it feels a bit tacked on. And what Feef does at the very end "For England" seems, frankly, baffling and pretty much unforgivable. She is a shell of herself, and it's not a satisfying conclusion at all. -
omegafrankie31 March 2019This stands alone as a good yarn about spying in post war Britain, the storyline is interesting and the acting throughout is excellent. I am a little surprised at the low ratings it gets but I'm guessing it does not contain the action which many people seem to crave these days. Instead of this, the drama demands your attention and makes the viewer think about the issues it raises. The cynical viewer who wants endless action should watch pieces containing Jason Statham.
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glilley8 June 2019I found this very entertaining but was irritated by the constant suggestion that America won the war. Also the suggestion that the OSS had to step in at the end of the war to save Britain from Soviet penetration is ridiculous. Britain in fact helped the US set up the CIA out of the bones of the OSS after the war. The US was very much junior to Britain in the matter of intelligence and code breaking during the war. This is not historically accurate; for example, reference is made to the traitor Kim Philby being a member of MI-5, he was in fact MI-6 (Secret Intelligence Service). This is an important distinction and not merely pedantic. It's like saying the FBI and the CIA are the same thing
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This might turn out to be a great thriller but half way through the first episode the way the history is shown is really annoying me.
The episode shows SOE training ,a fake interrogation,they really did this sort of thing so some research done there.
But then we have the 1945 election,many of the voters were soldiers who were overseas so it took several weeks to get the soldiers votes back to Britain,the results day was not the same day as the voting.
Characters keep referring to the Labour Party as The Socialists,the Daily Mail and the Telegraph used to refer to Labour as the socialists to make then sound foreign and extreme but I doubt members of the public used the expression much.
The election result in 1945 was a surprise to most people but there had been indications that it might turn out as it did. Churchill fought a bad campaign,personally insulting Attlee who greatly admired him. Churchill suggested that a Labour government would need some sort of Gestapo to Britain,Attlee reply was statesmanlike.
There is little evidence that America spied on Britain much after 1945. The American intelligence organisations learned a lot from British intelligence organisations 1941-1945 and they maintain close links to this day.
There is little evidence for the plot idea that there was much Soviet influence on the Labour government. Soviet influence on the Labour party and Trade Unions yes,influence on government ,not much. Attlee and Bevin had fought the far left in the Labour party since the 1930s.
Bevin was very much an anti communist,he helped drag America into forming NATO by fooling it over the Greece crisis. Attlee made sure that the far left pro communist mps were sidelined and thrown out of the party by 1950. The Attlee government helped form Nato built the British atom bomb and took part in the Korean war. ed to It is true there was the rhetoric of left will talk to left in 1945 and Britain did sell jet engines to the USSR but the majority of evidence shows that the 1945 government thought that British democratic socialism was a weapon against communism not an ally of it. -
monobloc28 February 2019Shades of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Well acted micro history of early CIA.. Slow start but picks up momentum. Well acted, great cast, and would make excellent 2 hour movie. Good insight into British post war geopolitical situation. Needed a little more humour perhaps but nevertheless very smartly filmed and directed. Surprisingly good.
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johnklem16 April 2020Traitors is an interesting idea that suffers from extraneous subplots and some cringeworthy exposition. You'll be lectured on race relations in the USA, on abortion rights, on women in the workplace, on systemic abuse of Jews and a dozen other worthy but in this context distracting issues. That's just bad writing. At its core though, Traitors is a tale about one woman's emotional journey into, depending on your POV, adulthood or corruption and that story is very well told and very well acted by Emma Appleton. A second season? Why not.
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credly4 April 2019How can a series have such great production values regarding costumes, sets, vehicles and the like and still have so many terrible anachronisms in the script?? just drove me nuts!
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tnokoz20 February 2019The characters may not be real but the story facts are. If you research the history of post war England, you will better understand it. This is not different than todays political climate. This is the first episode and I can see the character build up. It is going to be a very touchy, political series and I suppose people who do like this series care about how the current political world evolved and is going. The world today is in political disarray and due to many developments and leaders, especially with Trump being the President of a sliding nation. If you wasn't impressed with the first episode, hang in there, things will become more clear.
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michael_ballstav24 September 2021I really liked watching this on Netflix. Good actors and nicely done. Very smart and surprising series.
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ghostfear-4593313 February 2020This show is like an infomercial, constantly there is more. You would think this is a spy show, but no, there is more. It covers racial discrimination, women's work equality, sexual harassment, homosexual suffering, cold war, communism, Jewish struggle, US British relationship, socialism, and more. All for the price of just six episodes. A show covers everything but covers nothing.
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random-707787 March 2019Sorry but the series not only laughably bad, the critics have agreed it is as well. but it has an insanely high rating here in IMDB only because of shilled fake reviews. You can tell since the only activity of the account giving it a 10, 9 or 8 is upvoting and shill reviewing series. Poor acting, abysmal writing, laughable paranoid plot.
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wpirotte27 May 2019Nicely produced, acted, and directed. Writing is kinda hard to follow...but... the grimy paw-prints of modern liberal beliefs are everywhere in this post-Netflix-Obama-contract offering. Communism gets droned into us as if it is still fresh and innocent, Capitalism is the new Satan, and we find American black people who go all the way to England to still get hated on, by Brits and Yanks both. A lot of the rest of the series is hit and miss, a physical anachronism here, a 2020 campaign slogan there, interesting stuff about Israel and one outrageously expensive car. But they got one thing right: The vile cancer that was, is, and will be the CIA is shown clearly. What they didn't have time to show was the CIA failing at nearly every large task since inception. It is a matter of some hilarity that the CIA plotting against Trump was his best safeguard against real danger. Troof!
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I found this to be well worth watching , the acting and the cast are nothing short of brilliant. The script, on the other hand , is at times either heavy handed or strained : it does not seem to be true to life / realistic. Emma Appleton and Keeley Hawes are the elements that make this almost a must see. It doesn't reach that level because of the writing and probably the direction but it is so much better than other series that I have watched lately. So much content . . . How to decide what to watch ? I'd say this one is worth a go. Give it one episode and decide. I have seen better, yes , but I have seen offerings that were so much worse.
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Sleepin_Dragon22 April 2019Traitors is quite a difficult series to review, from a personal point of view I found it engrossing, albeit after slightly slow early episodes. I have a big interest in politics, and a love of espionage dramas, so Traitors ticks all the right boxes.
I know the appeal of this drama will have its limitations, it isn't going to be to everyone's taste, as it is perhaps a little slow for some, buy for those that like slightly deeper drama, it's a winner.
I mentioned earlier I though the first two episodes were slow, it really does improve as it progresses, Parts five and six are simply brilliant.
Gorgeously produced, and superbly acted, Keeley Hawes stands out in particular, as she so often does, but it's generally very well acted.
I'm sure there's scope for a second series, Feef surely has more scope for development. 8/10 -
bloodspencer-5361027 March 2019I read most of the reviews about this new TV show and I am wondering: why do people review it after having seen just one episode? Anyway in my opinion the show is quite enjoyable although there are a few "glitches" in the story logic. Great acting but the show is for British TV educated viewers. Who is expecting an American Spy Story will be disappointed. Looking forward for a second season...one can hope!
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traianpang17 July 2021I was surprised how underrated is this series; it depicts pretty accurate these convulsive years immediately after WWII, where people craved for peace but they noticed pretty fast that another kind of war is preparing to come.
I think from an historical and anthropological point of view, this series is pure gold but I can relate with others' impatience that is not showing "great action", maybe because the pace is rather slowly, reflecting the real rhythm of life in Britain.
Great acting, maybe much dark cinematography but brilliant atmosphere. Definitely recommend it but only if you have some time and take it really slow, in this hot summer. In the end, your patience and curiosity would be satisfied; I guess :) -
bernardhope28 June 2020Enjoyed this thriller which covers a subject not covered by many other films. Sadly viewing enjoyment was spoiled by VERY dark, almost invisible scenes.
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ematerso6 April 2019I am 84 so lived through all the years in this film. Believe me even in Brooklyn New York where I first heard the F word spoken out loud women simply did not speak like this and certainly not at work. I was 32 (so 1964) before I ever heard this word. Why was the heroine dating that wimpy guy? What was her problem sexually? (Physically?) Wasn't she supposed to be aboard the ship with the explosives? Was the Keely Haws character alive or dead at the end? Why did the heroine push her down the stairs? It did not make much sense. Why was she as a new employee calling the shots for other employees? I think I am generous in giving it 3 but I do like Keely Haws.
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Venge1 April 2019"Traitors" is a first-rate addition to the spy-genre, but not in the tradition of James Bond, but rather in the mould of Len Deighton's "Funeral in Berlin", or John le Carre's "Smiley's People". A story that builds piece by piece, as small, almost insubstantial clues are brought to light, while a web of danger lies in the dark corners. Those who are expecting a fast-paced action thriller will be sorely disappointed, but those who want a glimpse into the world of what a spy really does, leading a careful double-life, while trying to attract as little attention as possible, will be pulled into this rich story. Wonderful acting by the entire cast, but especially by the gutsy Emma Appleton, the tough but fragile Keeley Hawes, and the manipulative spymaster, Michael Stuhlbarg. Looking forward to future seasons.
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cheer885 May 2019I indeed wish this series could have shown more depth in the post WWII espionage world. Its writers seemed too lazy to do more research to dig deeper into British politics then in order to make a convincing story. Murdering characters unnecessarily is all too obvious and did not sum up writers' creativity. Violent death and sexual explicit scenes led to every character way out is far too simple and repetitive.
This TV series could be a great telling of the post WWII history which are not many on the market. However, it was ruined by limiting its scope on turning usual tricks, sex and violence to grab audience's wondering attentions. I felt wasting my time watching and waiting for it to change directions.
Good TV shows need dedicated writers to do research and deliverer their hard works to audiences. This one for sure is lack of that aspect. -
ConsDemo25 May 2020If one takes this series at face value, the US was alarmed by the Labour Party victory in the first postwar election in UK and felt the need to spy on the new government. However, that wasn't an accurate depiction of the Labour Party or most European socialist parties in the 1940s, many were anti-communist and alarmed by the thuggish tactics of the Soviet Union. The Labour government of Clement Atlee backed the creation of NATO and the US in the Korean War. It's also worth remembering the US was governed by New Deal Democrats at the time, the gap between the views of the Truman Administration and Atlee government wasn't that large.