Stream It or Skip It?

Season 2 of Ganglands, also known as Braqueurs: La Serie, as it was adapted from writer-director Julien Leclercq’s film of the same name, returns Sami Bouajila as master thief Mehdi Belhadj and Tracy Gotoas as Liana, his young protege in heisting. They were both left standing after the drug business bloodbath of last season, and as we rejoin them a few months after the violence, they’ve got a plan for one more score before they leave Europe behind. But you know what they say about best laid plans.  

GANGLANDS: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT? 

Opening Shot: A battered trailer home sits on a small lot in the forest. If you’re gonna live off the grid near Brussels, Belgium, this is the place to do it. 

The Gist: Inside, Mehdi (Bouajila) shaves his head and pops pain meds, the only outward sign that he’s still recovering from the gunshot wounds that landed him in the hospital last season. And as Liana (Gotoas) packs their weapons and other gear, they hook up with old pal Tony (Samuel Jouy) and prepare for the jewel heist that will finance their respective retirement plans. That the stones belong to Chris (Geert Van Rampelberg), the drug dealer who killed Mehdi’s sister and niece, is just icing on the cake. The crew gains entry to the diamond brokerage and grab what they came for, but not without wounding Javier (Marvin Schlick), the son of a cartel boss with whom Chris had been negotiating drug business logistics.

They pocketed the jewels, Mehdi exacted retribution for his loved ones’ murders, and then they shot their way out of downtown Brussels. But spilling Javier’s blood will have consequences. As Mehdi and Liana get ready to leave the country, Los Soles, the South American cartel he represents, sends a fixer tasked with eliminating the heisters and securing a favorable business partner for their drug trafficking operations at the Port of Antwerp. Mehdi’s plan was already dangerous. But unexpected ramifications are already destroying his methodical planning.

Javier had planned to contract with the Djebli crime family, whose Saber (Salim Kechiouche) and Sofia (Nabiha Akkari) have their own history with Mehdi and his people. But Almedia (Joaquim de Almeida), the Soles fixer, has his own plan to shore up the cartel’s European business, and it doesn’t involve the Djeblis. As Almeida meets with Belgian Federal Police commissaire Isabelle Herman (Loriane Klupsch) at the Venezuelan Embassy – this guy’s as smooth and seemingly legit as he is murderous and power-hungry – his personal enforcer Valeria (Leone Francois) leads a kill squad to dispatch not only Saber and Sofia, but Mehdi and Liana, too.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? The Netflix action-thriller series Hit & Run, from the creators of Fauda, ping pongs between Tel Aviv, Israel and New York City as a man is driven to investigate his wife’s death. And the streamer also includes three seasons of Undercover, a tense Belgian crime series with a look and feel similar to Ganglands.    

Our Take: In the first episode of Ganglands Season 2, Mehdi and Liana are each asked separately by people close to them what they mean to each other. “She’s my everything,” Mehdi answers simply, and Liana is as matter-of-fact. “He’s all I got.” These two never would have known each other, were it not for the circumstances. Liana was just a small-time hustler pulling cons with her girlfriend, Mehdi’s niece. But then everything exploded, rival drug gangs came gunning, and they both lost loved ones in the fallout. As its second season begins, Ganglands has already established its core, which is the evolution of this relationship between Mehdi and Liana as part father-daughter and part professional equals. And since violence has touched them once again, it will be interesting to see how their bond survives and thrives.   

Not that any of their adversaries plan on seeing them survive. The set up portion of Ganglands’ early going has already dispatched with one rival who managed to walk away from last season in Chris, the corrupt hotelier and drug dealer, and supplanted him with an even more dangerous group in a South American cartel with operations in Belgium and a beef with Mehdi. After the few stray quiet moments in the first episode, it seems evident that Los Soles’ main shot caller is going to use his seven days in Brussels to not only reorganize the cartel’s business in his favor, but keep coming at Mehdi and Liana until they and everyone close to them are dead. (Last season’s relentless body count is pretty good precedent for this assumption.) The first episode even culminates with a cliffhanger to that effect. Ganglands is fast-paced, ruthless, and unsympathetic in its portrayal of criminals with a decent streak being stalked by other criminals who set no such limitations. It’s a good thing Mehdi and Liana have each other, because there is likely no one else to cover their six.

Sex and Skin: Liana and Kelly share a brief moment of intimacy before Mehdi interrupts them. 

Parting Shot: With the knowledge that Los Soles is after them, Mehdi has moved up the seaborne out he planned for he and Liana. But the exit strategy is totally blown when gunmen arrive at the port and start shooting up the boat.

Sleeper Star: Prolific Portuguese actor Joaquim de Almeida, whose bad guy credits stretch all the way back to 1994’s Clear and Present Danger, is doing his wonderful, typical thing here, playing a ruthless cartel higher-up who is simultaneously a respected, smooth-talking international prosecutor. 

Most Pilot-y Line: “You want to go over the plan?” And Liana’s curt shake of the head and determined response to Mehdi – “steal the diamonds, sell them, and next week, Canada” – reveals how much these two trust each other, professionally and personally.

Our Call: STREAM IT. At a terse six episodes, season two of Ganglands is set to a pace that feels more like an action movie as we root for an aging thief and his young partner to finally outlast their murderous drug dealer foes. 

Johnny Loftus is an independent writer and editor living at large in Chicagoland. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift. Follow him on Twitter: @glennganges