The Serpent - General Discussion

[dubbel zout]

In the 1970s, merciless killer Charles Sobhraj preys on travelers exploring the "hippie trail" of South Asia. Based on shocking true events.

Starring Tahar Rahim and Jenna Coleman.

Starts April 2 on Netflix.

[Wee S]

So glad to see this pop up! Such a great show, you have to really stick with it. Tahar Rahim is mesmerising as Sobhraj, but also gets it across that this man is evil personified. 

 

Im due a rewatch.

[dubbel zout]

On 3/25/2021 at 7:03 PM, Wee S said:

Tahar Rahim is mesmerising as Sobhraj, but also gets it across that this man is evil personified. 

He was really effective showing how threatening Charles/Alain was, but I think he missed the mark with showing us why so many people were attracted to him. Rahim played things a bit too opaquely for me. The charisma the real Sobhraj had to have had was missing for me.

I wish the show had found a better way of showing the time line. Things really bounced around.

[blixie]

Quote

Tahar Rahim is mesmerising as Sobhraj, but also gets it across that this man is evil personified.  

He is but he especially in his 70's longer hair, he keeps reminding me of a slightly taller buffer Jason Schwartzman. I think he showcases that for a con man charm is often just about connecting with your mark, he does this immediately by clocking the Dutch guy as hapa, and referencing their mutual rootless existence. I agree that between the time shifts and his relatively cool persona, however flattering, it's hard to see why the Quebecois girl becomes enamored with him. But again he's seemed to sense her weakness (her boujie empty Canadia life). 

I'm only two episodes in, but I'm enjoying it. It was so chilling when he recounted one of his murders to convince his friend to commit a murder with him.  He has his will to power schtick down.

[DangerousMinds]

2 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

He was really effective showing how threatening Charles/Alain was, but I think he missed the mark with showing us why so many people were attracted to him. Rahim played things a bit too opaquely for me. The charisma the real Sobhraj had to have had was missing for me.

I wish the show had found a better way of showing the time line. Things really bounced around.

I really enjoyed the non linear time jumps.

[tearsandhysteria]

I've started this but the back and forth time jumps were just too much. They didn't have to do it THAT many times. If I get bored enough, i mat revisit the show but they didn't catch my interest enough to make me hang in there. 

[Wee S]

Re the time jumps - I watched it weekly on the BBC so it made it easier to absorb and understand. It def became easier to follow after a few episodes.

Still one of the best series I've seen this year - up there with It's A Sin. Both had me gripped in different ways.

[dubbel zout]

I could follow the time jumps, I just wish the show had used a more elegant solution. We sometimes got flashbacks within flashbacks, and that got clunky.

[blixie]

Quote

We sometimes got flashbacks within flashbacks, and that got clunky.

One of my favorite camp classic movies does this Ghosts of Mars, trust me it's handled much better here, but yes it felt very show offy to have the order of victims/flashback nested like a Jenga tower: first victim last, last victims first, middle victim interspersed. I did think it drove home though that he basically killed 4 people in five months,  and I'm still not clear why he let the Australians live and like really they looked pretty dead. Anyway that his murdering is both efficient and capricious, what I do hope they get into is that most con men don't want to draw that kind of heat, they are in it for the money and when too many people in one place start to catch on they move on to the next place. This guy is  more like instead of moving along I'll kill every single one of my marks, and give himself time he chose to focus on marks the cops and the home countries weren't to uh high on.

[SG429]

3 eps in and too much poisoning and puking, too much time jumping, and, though realizing that he had a "type" that he was after, too much people looking too similar. I hope it'll pick up a bit in the 2nd half, but it's definitely not bingeable for me.

[Chaos Theory]

2 episodes in an I am actually far more interested in Marie then Charles.    Also kinda fascinating is why Kipperberg is going to such lengths when everyone else is telling him not to bother.  

[DangerousMinds]

2 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

2 episodes in an I am actually far more interested in Marie then Charles.    Also kinda fascinating is why Kipperberg is going to such lengths when everyone else is telling him not to bother.  

I think he just really felt bad for those families missing their kids, and the pictures got to him. Who would’ve helped them if not for him?

[Pi237]

My nitpick with the pacing...lots of drawn out pauses where characters just stare knowingly at each other.  “Here, have some water.”  Long stare between Alain and Monique.  Person just sits there while they stare knowingly at each other, then says “sure! Thanks!” In real life, no way you’d drink it after seeing them making those evil eyes at each other. 
 

Also, sound editor Really loved smoking.  You heard every light, sizzle, and inhale of each of those 30,000 cigarettes. Made me laugh after a while. 
 

Otherwise, great series. Never heard the story before and I binge watched it in days.  

[dubbel zout]

13 hours ago, DangerousMinds said:

15 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

2 episodes in an I am actually far more interested in Marie then Charles.    Also kinda fascinating is why Kipperberg is going to such lengths when everyone else is telling him not to bother.  

I think he just really felt bad for those families missing their kids, and the pictures got to him. Who would’ve helped them if not for him?

Exactly. I was surprised none of the consulates/embassies seemed all that concerned about their missing citizens. I get that they were dirty hippies (/s) and a lot of them had harmlessly wandered off with no notice to anyone, but when they had actual bodies that were burnt to a crisp? I'd be furious at all of the shoulder shrugging. Those poor families. 

I get that diplomacy is mostly about policy and business, but isn't ensuring the safety of their citizens abroad one of the basic functions of an embassy? Maybe I'm really naive about that.

[Maysie]

We’re four episodes in and really like this. We’d never heard of this, so we had no idea what it was about and have no clue about how it ends, aside from Charles  ends up in France being interviewed.

 I have to focus on the time jumps, and once I got used to that, I became okay with it. I think it’s a useful way to tell the story. Every time Charles and Marie meet someone new I find myself saying “Run! Run!” It’s heartbreaking the way they prey on young, idealistic people who are “guilty” only of being trusting. 

I suspected that Dominique would make it out, because realistically once he made it to the airport there wasn’t much Charles could do in that crowd of people (vs being in the red light district where you can get away with a lot more), however that part of the third episode was very suspenseful to me. I think one of the things the show has done well is demonstrating that there’s an element of brainwashing going on and how that affects anyone who comes into Charles’ orbit. In the case of Dominique, Nadine and Remy, they’re terrified and not surprisingly, attribute some pretty strong power to Charles.

We’re happy we found the show and are looking forward to seeing how it ends up. I have a feeling that perhaps it could be tightened up from 8 episodes but won’t commit to that until we’ve finished the whole thing.

[Chaos Theory]

Ok finished this and I didn’t really get involved until half way through.   I thought it was mostly good but the flash backs and flash forwards did get a bit confusing.  I was still mostly interested in Marie and why she stayed and really how involved with the murders she actually was.

I didn’t understand Kipperberg at all until his speech to his wife about the price of freedom.  It was also interesting that everyone kept warning him that no matter how this went his career would likely suffer. 
 

As to why he returned to a country with an open warrant against him.  It was a number of years later and he probably figured they wouldn’t have kept files on him for that long which if the show was correct they hadn’t.   Kipperberg good file keeping was what caught him in the end.

[dubbel zout]

2 hours ago, Maysie said:

I have a feeling that perhaps it could be tightened up from 8 episodes

It definitely could have been six episodes, IMO, without losing anything. But I'm of the opinion that most movies and limited series are too long.

1 hour ago, Chaos Theory said:

As to why he returned to a country with an open warrant against him.  It was a number of years later and he probably figured they wouldn’t have kept files on him for that long which if the show was correct they hadn’t.

He definitely enjoyed sticking it to law enforcement, so I think part of it was him daring them to do something. I also wonder if maybe he decided if he was going to get caught, it might as well be someplace where he might be treated better, like life in prison in Nepal would be better than life in prison in Thailand. 

[Aliferously]

Finished last night. It was so good.

As a Dutch speaker, the Dutch really hurt my ears. I credit the British actor playing Knippenberg for actually learning to say the words but it was still a bit jarring. Perhaps it was just odd to hear it in a BBC series.

I think he went back to Nepal to see if he could get away with going to Nepal. If he'd be able to walk away again. I doubt he'd actually go there to commit more murders. 70's hippie-ism is a far cry from 21st century backpacking. It still carries risks, but everyone always knows where everyone is, right.

I didn't feel sorry for Marie-Andree, but I did understand her plight. I liked that she was eventually dealing the final blow from beyond the grave though.