Episode 4 begins with eleven shots fired at Jacques, apparently by eleven different people. That's the very definition of overkill... and that is the gist of this reboot or reimagining of Sam Spade...

After Humphrey Bogart, epitomised and eternalised the character, I am not sure if there was a need to reinvent the character of Sam Spade by relocating him from grittier settings that he knows like the back of his hand to the calm French countryside, where he constantly looks and behaves like a fish out of the water... but even if that change of setting was accepted and tolerated, what they did with the character per se is so confusing... that Clive Owen, chooses to chain-smoke, doesn't make the character comparative to Humphrey's Spade.

The episodes are not taut or riveting... the dialogues are needlessly serpentine... the plot is too sluggardly and abstrusive (weird combination, for what is the point of it being slow-paced if you are going to make it this contrived)... the entire mishmash makes it a very frustrating watch... add the overzealous use of French (and even as someone that understands basic French), I found the entire experience very tiring...

In a way, if you begin by knowing nothing of Sam Spade or his character, you might possibly like this series a lot better than I did... for me, this seems like a well-intentioned mess. I will complete this season, but if there is a second season, I might probably give it a miss...