Let's start at the beginning. The first disturbing thing is how much contact Kristjan and Monika actually have - which is very little. The whole series is devoted to them, but they barely have any conversations. All they show is the same memories from 15 years ago that we have seen too many times.
It was very disturbing that after one season of waiting, they finally kiss, and in the very next episodes they were separated. And then Kristjan immediately went back to Tanja - no, if it was true love, that wouldn't have happened. Also, Kristjan wouldn't have been so happy to hear that Tanja was pregnant. If he was so happy for this baby, then he has no feelings for Monika anymore and the whole series is meaningless. Not to mention the fact that he cheated on Tanja without any second thought and was unhappy in the relationship later on - how can he be so happy with her after only a couple of weeks? In the third season, after Tania's unfortunate miscarriage, Kristjan forces himself to focus only on her and tries to finally put Monica behind him. However, just one week after the miscarriage, Tanja breaks off their relationship and Kristijan is saying that he wishes she would have kept trying for their relationship. I was quite surprised by this, because he has been fantasising about Monika during his whole relationship with Tanja, thinking how he can't give her up. But it was even more absurd when Kristjan went to his and Monika's place on the bridge immediately after the break-up and thought about Tanja. By watching the show I couldn't really understand who he loves the most, Monica, as he should, since the whole show was supposed to be about them, or Tanja. Someone he was together with a very short period of time. It felt like he couldn't decide sometimes which made me not want to watch the show at some parts.
Not to mention that Kristjan (except for the few episodes when he and Monika say they are together and are looking for those documents) is together with Tanja for the first, second and half of the third season. I understand at the beginning that the viewers are even more attracted to the series if the main character is in a relationship with someone who is not meant for him, but I have to admit that it just made me not to consider stop watching the series, because I waited and waited for their scenes together, but unfortunately there weren't any. When Kristijan and Tanja finally went their separate ways in the 40th episode of the third season, I expected it to be a bit late, but finally the beginning for Kristijan and Monika. In the end they were together for only two days and then they barely had any contact. The only time I felt the emotions of the characters in this series and the story gave me that long awaited feeling, where you can't stop watching until you know what's going to happen, and the two main characters are going to get their happy ending, was when in the last episode Kristijan found out that Monika was the one who was in the car accident.
I simply must not conclude this review of the series without mentioning Tanja. I understand very well why Kristijan practically 'threw himself' into a relationship with her when he arrived in Vipava. Their relationship just didn't want to end, despite the very obvious unhappiness in the relationship. Tanja has proven time and time again how immature and simply too young she is to even deal with Monika and Kristjan's problems. She almost ran over Monika, later chased her and had a lot of jealous outbursts, which were sometimes justified and sometimes not. In season 3, she also called Monica a hypocrite, only because she herself was aware that the story between Kristjan and Monica will never be over. The question that went through my head was, why would she have continued their relationship if she knows what the future holds?
Despite the other criticisms, I must point out that the actors played their roles phenomenally. As someone who has watched the series Usodno vino before, it was very interesting and enjoyable to see Nina Ivanic Rep, Jernej Kuntner and Anja Drnovsek in completely different roles. And I simply cannot fail to mention the simply phenomenal performance of Rok Kunaver, who in each series surprises more and more with his acting talent. And the cherry on top of the cake was Tina Gorenjak, who brightened up every scene.
This is a Slovenian soap opera and the expectations for this series were much higher. What was missing were those moments which, on the one hand, are so sweet and, on the other, make the viewer addicted to the love story and make him or her unable to help but watch the next part at the same moment. Where were all the parts when the prince on the white horse rescues his lost love? I felt that exact kind of addiction to the series and the desire to watch a love story when I watched Usodno vino and I was expecting the same in this show.
It was very disturbing that after one season of waiting, they finally kiss, and in the very next episodes they were separated. And then Kristjan immediately went back to Tanja - no, if it was true love, that wouldn't have happened. Also, Kristjan wouldn't have been so happy to hear that Tanja was pregnant. If he was so happy for this baby, then he has no feelings for Monika anymore and the whole series is meaningless. Not to mention the fact that he cheated on Tanja without any second thought and was unhappy in the relationship later on - how can he be so happy with her after only a couple of weeks? In the third season, after Tania's unfortunate miscarriage, Kristjan forces himself to focus only on her and tries to finally put Monica behind him. However, just one week after the miscarriage, Tanja breaks off their relationship and Kristijan is saying that he wishes she would have kept trying for their relationship. I was quite surprised by this, because he has been fantasising about Monika during his whole relationship with Tanja, thinking how he can't give her up. But it was even more absurd when Kristjan went to his and Monika's place on the bridge immediately after the break-up and thought about Tanja. By watching the show I couldn't really understand who he loves the most, Monica, as he should, since the whole show was supposed to be about them, or Tanja. Someone he was together with a very short period of time. It felt like he couldn't decide sometimes which made me not want to watch the show at some parts.
Not to mention that Kristjan (except for the few episodes when he and Monika say they are together and are looking for those documents) is together with Tanja for the first, second and half of the third season. I understand at the beginning that the viewers are even more attracted to the series if the main character is in a relationship with someone who is not meant for him, but I have to admit that it just made me not to consider stop watching the series, because I waited and waited for their scenes together, but unfortunately there weren't any. When Kristijan and Tanja finally went their separate ways in the 40th episode of the third season, I expected it to be a bit late, but finally the beginning for Kristijan and Monika. In the end they were together for only two days and then they barely had any contact. The only time I felt the emotions of the characters in this series and the story gave me that long awaited feeling, where you can't stop watching until you know what's going to happen, and the two main characters are going to get their happy ending, was when in the last episode Kristijan found out that Monika was the one who was in the car accident.
I simply must not conclude this review of the series without mentioning Tanja. I understand very well why Kristijan practically 'threw himself' into a relationship with her when he arrived in Vipava. Their relationship just didn't want to end, despite the very obvious unhappiness in the relationship. Tanja has proven time and time again how immature and simply too young she is to even deal with Monika and Kristjan's problems. She almost ran over Monika, later chased her and had a lot of jealous outbursts, which were sometimes justified and sometimes not. In season 3, she also called Monica a hypocrite, only because she herself was aware that the story between Kristjan and Monica will never be over. The question that went through my head was, why would she have continued their relationship if she knows what the future holds?
Despite the other criticisms, I must point out that the actors played their roles phenomenally. As someone who has watched the series Usodno vino before, it was very interesting and enjoyable to see Nina Ivanic Rep, Jernej Kuntner and Anja Drnovsek in completely different roles. And I simply cannot fail to mention the simply phenomenal performance of Rok Kunaver, who in each series surprises more and more with his acting talent. And the cherry on top of the cake was Tina Gorenjak, who brightened up every scene.
This is a Slovenian soap opera and the expectations for this series were much higher. What was missing were those moments which, on the one hand, are so sweet and, on the other, make the viewer addicted to the love story and make him or her unable to help but watch the next part at the same moment. Where were all the parts when the prince on the white horse rescues his lost love? I felt that exact kind of addiction to the series and the desire to watch a love story when I watched Usodno vino and I was expecting the same in this show.