«The Sniffer»: the smell of ratings

Broadcast of the first season of "The Sniffer" by Artem Litvinenko has not even started when producers, company FILM.UA, announced the shooting of the second season. You author has internal blockers and idiosyncrasy to the high-sounding phrases and pathetic statements. However, the word "unprecedented" in case of "The Sniffer" fits quiet organically. Particularly because giving the go-ahead to the shooting of "The Sniffer - 2", project managers were unaware of the high figures, which showed the Ukrainian premiere. And if you disregard the fact that "The Sniffer" is a detective film and people like detectives, ratings of this series may have several explanations.

As for now we continue to study why the show was such a hit. Let’s move on to another component, to a very, in my opinion, important! - the team not only did the work, which is interesting by itself, but also worked for the result. 

The series kicked off on November 11 on ISTV that despite many complaints and questions to its program policy from colleagues, positions itself as a "male" channel. If there are people who are not familiar with the main secret of "male" channels can ask me for detailed explanations personally.

Today main character is not a rough mountain of muscle that can save the world, even in a sozzled state. Also, it’s not an intelligent spineless alcoholic who has not found himself in life and one has to feel pity for him. "The Geographer Drank His Globe Away" - is not a model of mass culture. It needs a restrained image or vice versa - not always a balanced intellectual who has charisma, able to make decisions, take responsibility for his words and deeds, be different. So this is the Sniffer played by Kirill Kyaro. Although the authors of the project are positioning it as a Ukrainian version of "Sherlock", the one with Benedict Cumberbatch, BBC production, your author clearly recalls another character - Dr. Lightman from the TV series "Lie to Me". In addition, Kyaro visually is very similar to the iconic Tim Roth, who played Lightman, also there are more similarities between their characters than between Sniffer and Sherlock.

In particular, both clearly distinguish lie from truth. Only Lightman solves the body language and Sniffer is a unique, one of a kind specialist with an extraordinary smell. In one episode journalists quite logically dubbed him a "dogman" predictably offending the hero. He with his gift is doomed to loneliness, for an honest living he literally sniffs out everything for wealthy clients, has earned himself something like an impregnable fortress: a multilevel apartment in high-tech style, where the lift takes him up from the parking. He minimizes contacts with the outside world.

Here Sniffer conflicts with American Lightman who has the whole Bureau solving a lie services. Such services he also provides for the police, when the owner of a unique smell literally is attracted to public service through blackmail. Sniffer aspires to independence, also has the anlage of an anarchist and nonconformist simultaneously, which automatically makes a hero a westerner. European, American, Ukrainian, but not Russian or a Russian citizen.

So Sniffer is one of those heroes, which was expected. Shown in the film law enforcement agencies actually have nothing to do with reality and that makes them attractive. Structure in which Sniffer has to work as an expert is called OBI (Official Bureau of Investigation), and the writers in several episodes give a hint: corruption is also present there. Colonel Viktor Lebedev, friend of Sniffer allows himself to break the dull service instructions over and over again. Besides, unlike other colleagues, is not indifferent to alcohol, junk food like hamburgers and pizza, and generally you get an impression that he would give up everything and together with Sniffer created a structure that would operate better than the System.

Worth mentioning about relationship between women and Sniffer. He is divorced, and his wife is a real bitch. Male audience applauds when nasty lady once again unsuccessfully trying to poison his life. Women, surprisingly, also support: how can you treat that way such a man?! Significantly, the son of the hero, teenager Alex periodically tries to escape from physically unbearable maternal care. Relationship between father and son - one of the most urgent and not fully developed trend at a time when single-parent families is a norm. And mothers raising their sons without male involvement as well as male authority makes it impossible for these young men to create normal families.

We can talk more, analyzing why TV viewer accepted the first season. However, we should stress once again that we were told a story that is far from reality. And it is not bad. Because here situations are simulated in a way you want to try it on yourself and your own life. There is a character who you want to ask for help, hoping to get it much more efficient than from the state and the System. By definition of an Israeli detective researcher Danel Kluger, the reason of the genre popularity lies in such situations.