I completely agree with Doc Holliday's review of La Palma. I watched all 4 episodes and it's one of the better miniseries I have seen on Netflix this year. Very thought provoking and grapples with issues like the ethics involved in issuing impending disaster warnings to the public and "triage" in getting off an island when there are limited numbers of boats to do so. One scene in particular made me think about what it must have been like when the Titanic sank without anywhere near enough lifeboats available to carry all of those on board, meaning a bunch of people were going to need to suck it up and drown or die of hypothermia. Mostly men of course, but I think some men did make it on to the last boats. Whether that was at gunpoint or due to a payment of cash, who knows. The dead were not available to be interviewed to tell us.
I thought the special effects were pretty good although I have one minor critique: the CGI clearly slowed down the tsunami wave for dramatic effect. The wave seems to slowly linger in the background while the scrambling characters get their escape acts together when, in reality, it would have been barrelling at them at speeds in excess of 700 miles per hour (1,126.54 km per hour). This did serve to ratchet up the drama a few clicks, so I give them a pass on this scientific inaccuracy, but it's my only criticism and did not effect my overall enjoyment of the series.
I really enjoyed the actors, and those of you who have watched any Scandinavian TV will recognize Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as Haukur, who has acted in many Icelandic as well as Norwegian productions. He is actually an American by birth (born in Connecticut), and he speaks the King's English in some scenes in this series. The producers only gave him a supporting role, although he is a bigger star than anyone in this show. That being said, the acting leads were all very good in their parts.
It should also be mentioned that the series was filmed on location in La Palma.
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