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MIA review

This Florida-set revenge thriller swings between being boring and ludicrous. It’s riddled with awkward dialogue and convenient plotting

MIA review

TL;DR

  • Miami, Florida, is presented as a city of extremes, with ostentatious wealth derived from both legal and illegal activities, often supported by immigrant labor.
  • MIA, a new drama by Bill Dubuque, attempts to address the immigrant experience but is overwhelmed by a silly revenge plot about Etta Tiger Jonze seeking to kill 12 gangsters who murdered her family.
  • The show is criticized for awkward dialogue, convenient plotting, and a lack of entertainment value in its backstory presentation.
  • Etta, a US citizen with local knowledge and a photographic memory, finds allies in Lovely, a Haitian immigrant, and Lena, a nightclub owner with hidden resources, both of whom become part of her 'found family'.
  • The villainous Rojas cartel, unaware Etta survived, squabbles over business progression, with Mateo pushing for people-trafficking and their sister Caroline running a legitimate real estate operation that plans to build a skyscraper in Little Haiti.
  • The series is described as swinging between boring and ludicrous, with the bad guys offering dull boilerplate sibling rivalry.
  • The 'found family' dynamic is noted as the soul of MIA, but it gets lost as Etta pursues her targets.
  • The review concludes that any reason to see MIA as more than dispensable fluff is thoroughly killed off by the end.