The fourty-fifth TV show: #628 City of Men
I'm currently watching the final episode of the series, which is fairly meta, as both a clip show and a behind the screens setup talking about the production of the series with others. It seems to be just as much about how the actors move on.
Starting off with child actors - even at eleven - is always risky, and here they pulled it off. Laranjinha (Darlan Cunha) has an effortless charm that pulls him through a lot, while Acerola (Douglas Silva) goes through a lot, and the emotions are believable and played so well, we seriously felt for him at so many points. The show relies heavily on them and they pull it off well.
The series is about life in the Brazilian favelas, the slums that are around so many places. It deals with the poverty, the organised crime and the racism seen. Acerola has a kid at 16 - a kid raising a baby, with all the learning of responsibility that entails. It's dark at times, worrying, and it makes you worry about the situation these people have to live in.
Thankfully, however, it also shows the good things in their life. As kids, there are a lot of hijinx, a lot of ill advised plans and narrow escapes from worse. It means the show never descends completely into darkness, balancing it with comedy, and the best episodes both show the situation and make you smile at it. It works well, and with the exception of a handful of episodes, have made us think while always staying entertaining. Even the final episode, as meta as it is, address these problems with comedy. Revealing the truth, in a way.