10. Feb, 2018

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MacMafia is about as international as the MacDonald’s franchise - Russian, Israeli, Anglophile Russian, English, Mexican, Indian, French.  It’s all in the mix.  Most people are as ruthless as a dyed in the wool Sicilian godfather, even if, at first, they don’t appear to be.  Public school educated financier, Alex, is undergoing a transformation and reverting to type, the type being, Russian mobster.  

The expat Russians, ‘pappa’ and ‘mamma’ (as Alex, otherwise  adult, refers to them, rather unconvincingly) are madly emotional about the snows of yesteryear or something, especially pappa, who’s always in his cups and sobbing into the Smirnoff.  The successful ruling gangster in Russia, Vadim (who ousted all the others long ago) on the other hand, is coolly understated and given to gazing into the middle distance, except when beating the odd incidental character to a pulp with anything that comes to hand.  He, though, makes with the vodka like a babe on mother’s milk, remaining, however,  remarkably sober.  Pappa’s years abroad have clearly cost him the knack.

The women in this series aren’t doing too well, to be honest.   Their life expectancy is lower than a female BBC journalist’s salary.  Pappa’s glamorous bit on the side has (goodness knows when he managed it) got pregnant, which hasn't gone down well with anyone and mamma’s distraught.  Alex’s girlfriend’s just been shot by a French assassin who was slaughtered on the spot and Vadim’s daughter ( tooth achingly sweet and loving) has just been executed at her own birthday party by, er, well I’m not sure who hired that hitman.   I’ve lost track.  On the plus side, the Russian escort who gave information to Semiyon Kleiman in exchange for being freed from working for him, has just been liberated.  I’m not sure how that’s going to work out, though.  She is a woman, after all.   Still, it’s not over yet.  There might be a fat lady left to sing.