Love/Hate - Irish TV Now available on HULU and Netflix - Is this a great TV show?

Starring Aidan Gillen (Game of Thrones, The Wire) and Robert Sheehan (The Mortal Instruments, Misfits)this drama is based in modern day Dublin, Ireland and wanders through the lives of the gang members, who make their living off of dealing drugs. It focuses on Dublin's underground drug trade, the characters that fill it, and their daily troubles, trials and tribulations. The characters are life like, and even though they are the scum of the earth, you will be enticed by their behavior. From the beginning, it is obvious that the gangsters on display, are small time gangsters, feeding off the misery of society's bottom. As time progresses, so do the characters. The realism and understanding that accompanies their every movement is fantastic. I find that once you start watching this show, you will want to finish the entire series.

Irish Television shows have always been bland, conservative and just downright mediocre. They were always upstaged by the ever more attractive British entertainment industry next door. Before, our best talent, Gabriel Byrne, Liam Neeson, Brendan Gleeson and countless others left for sparkly Hollywood at their peak. Not to mention the likes of Pierce Brosnan who is even willing to hand away his nationality for links to a better known industry.

Living in Wisconsin at the moment, I do realize that it is the same everywhere. The same thing happens here. How can a small little place with a low population keep a hold of such greatness? Maybe with the creation of Love/Hate and hopefully some more shows like it, we can at least keep a hold of them for awhile longer. This show has the production value of some of the shows that grace the screens of premium package US viewers. Put simply, even if you don't like this genre, you will still love this show.

I will admit, that I wish the producers had created a show that involved a little less filth. Dublin doesn't feature in enough great shows/movies. One of them focusing on the lowest of the populous doesn't help the cities image. That was my initial reaction and if anything it would have made me steer clear and warn people away from it. Living abroad, Ireland already has an image of something its not.

However, when I decided to give it a go, I realized something. This show doesn't glamorize crime. The first few episodes really do show what money can buy you, but by the end of the second season, lets just say, the druggy lifestyle was shown for what it really was.

This show is free to watch on Hulu.com and it really is a show, that, had I known it was such quality, I would pay for the box set. Check it out and listen clearly. The accents might be a bit rough for foreigners.

REVIEW: 9/10

This show is great quality. It can be shocking at times, but nothing a fan of HBO hasn't seen.