Kin is an Irish crime drama television series, co-created by Peter McKenna and Ciaran Donnelly, that first broadcast on 9 September 2021, on RTÉ One. The series revolves around a fictional Dublin family embroiled in gangland war, and stars Aidan Gillen and Ciarán Hinds as rival gang leaders Frank Kinsella and Eamon Cunningham.
| Kin | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Promotional poster for the first season | |
| Genre | Crime drama |
| Created by |
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| Showrunner | Peter McKenna |
| Written by | Peter McKenna |
| Directed by |
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| Starring | |
| Theme music composer | David Holmes |
| Country of origin | Ireland |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 16 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
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| Producers |
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| Production location | Dublin |
| Cinematography | James Mather |
| Editor | Edel McDonnell |
| Running time | 50 minutes |
| Production companies | |
| Original release | |
| Network | |
| Release | 9 September 2021 – 7 May 2023 |
The series was first announced in November 2020, with co-creator Peter McKenna set as showrunner and Diarmuid Goggins as director of the first four episodes.[1] Tessa Hoffe was later announced as director of episodes five to eight.[2] In February 2022, the series premiered in the United States and Canada on AMC+,[3] with Sundance Now premiering the series in the UK. A second season was announced on 10 February 2022, with production beginning in July.[4][5]
Background
editPrior to the series' premiere, several news outlets stated the series was inspired by the Kinahan gang and the Hutch–Kinahan feud, and noted similarities to former RTE staple Love/Hate. A show "insider" stated that "This is not the Kinahans' story, but people can draw their own conclusions. Viewers will be able to make up their own mind about it."[6][7]
Cast
editMain
edit- Charlie Cox as Michael ‘The Magician’ Kinsella, Jimmy's brother
- Clare Dunne as Amanda Kinsella, Jimmy's wife
- Aidan Gillen as Frank Kinsella
- Emmett J. Scanlan as Jimmy Kinsella, Michael's brother
- Maria Doyle Kennedy as Bridget 'Birdy' Goggins, sister of Frank
- Sam Keeley as Eric 'Viking' Kinsella, son of Frank
- Yasmin Seky as Nikita Murphy, partner of Eric
- Ciarán Hinds as Eamon Cunningham (Season 1)
- Francis Magee as Brendan Kinsella (Season 2, guest season 1), father of Michael and Jimmy, brother of Frank and Birdy
- Danielle Galligan as Molly (Season 2, guest season 1)
Supporting
edit- Hannah Adeogun as Anna Areoye
- Mark Mckenna Jr as Anthony Kinsella
- Keith McErlean as Con Doyle
- Ryan Lincoln as Isaac 'Kem' Kemela
- Ben Carolan as Glen Wright
- Shane Quigley Murphy as Dean Fearon
- Neill Fleming as Dotser Reid
- Thomas Kane-Byrne as Francis 'Fudge' Flynn
- Cian Fitzsimons as Jamie Kinsella
- Fiona Bell as Angela Cunningham
- Lloyd Cooney as Caolán Moore
- Stephen Jones as Noel Lawlor
- Denise McCormack as Jenny Lawlor
- Öykü Karayel as Nuray Batuk (Season 2)
- Kenan Ece as Hamza (Season 2)
Episodes
editSeries overview
edit| Series | Episodes | Originally released | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | |||
| 1 | 8 | 12 September 2021 | 31 October 2021 | |
| 2 | 8 | 19 March 2023 | 7 May 2023 | |
Season 1 (2021)
edit| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date [8] | Ireland viewers (millions) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Episode 1" | Diarmuid Goggins | Peter McKenna[9] | 12 September 2021 | N/A | |
|
A feud between local gang leaders Frank Kinsella and Eamon Cunningham is intensified when Frank's son Eric tries to take out one of Eamon's dealers, Caolan Moore, over a petty feud. | |||||||
| 2 | 2 | "Episode 2" | Diarmuid Goggins | Peter McKenna | 19 September 2021 | N/A | |
|
Reeling from the death in the family, the Kinsellas argue about whether or not they should retaliate, going against Frank who just struck a deal with Cunningham. | |||||||
| 3 | 3 | "Episode 3" | Diarmuid Goggins | Peter McKenna | 26 September 2021 | N/A | |
|
The day of the funeral arrives, and the Kinsellas decide to strike back at those who were ultimately responsible for the murder, but not everything goes to plan. | |||||||
| 4 | 4 | "Episode 4" | Diarmuid Goggins | Peter McKenna | 3 October 2021 | N/A | |
| 5 | 5 | "Episode 5" | Tessa Hoffe | Peter McKenna | 10 October 2021 | N/A | |
| 6 | 6 | "Episode 6" | Tessa Hoffe | Peter McKenna | 17 October 2021 | N/A | |
| 7 | 7 | "Episode 7" | Tessa Hoffe | Peter McKenna | 24 October 2021 | N/A | |
| 8 | 8 | "Episode 8" | Tessa Hoffe | Peter McKenna | 31 October 2021 | N/A | |
|
Amanda’s plan to take down Eamon comes into fruition. | |||||||
Season 2 (2023)
edit| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date [8] | Ireland viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 1 | "Episode 1" | Felix Thompson | Peter McKenna | 19 March 2023 | N/A |
| 10 | 2 | "Episode 2" | Felix Thompson | Peter McKenna | 26 March 2023 | N/A |
| 11 | 3 | "Episode 3" | Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor | Peter McKenna | 2 April 2023 | N/A |
| 12 | 4 | "Episode 4" | Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor | Peter McKenna | 9 April 2023 | N/A |
| 13 | 5 | "Episode 5" | Kate Dolan | Peter McKenna | 16 April 2023 | N/A |
| 14 | 6 | "Episode 6" | Kate Dolan | Peter McKenna | 22 April 2023 | N/A |
| 15 | 7 | "Episode 7" | Felix Thompson | Peter McKenna | 30 April 2023 | N/A |
| 16 | 8 | "Episode 8" | Felix Thompson | Peter McKenna | 7 May 2023 | N/A |
Reception
editThe review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 100% approval rating with an average rating of 7.0/10, based on 11 critic reviews.[10]
Alex McLevy of The A.V. Club gave the series a B− and wrote: "It's simply an opportunity to watch some gifted actors do what they do, very well, with a story that glides along in entertaining but unoriginal manner."[11]
The series was acquired by the BBC and began showing on BBC One on 18 November 2023.[12] The broadcaster also acquired the second series which was shown on BBC One from 14 February 2024 with the whole series available on BBC iPlayer. [13]
References
edit- ^ White, Peter (5 November 2020). "Aidan Gillen, Charlie Cox & Clare Dunne To Star In Irish TV Drama 'Kin' From Bron Studios, Headline Pictures & NENT Studios For RTÉ". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 6 November 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
- ^ Del Rosario, Alexandra (18 February 2021). "AMC+ Acquires Trio Of Crime Dramas; AllBlk Greenlights Kaye Singleton's Biblical Drama Series 'Covenant'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 18 February 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
- ^ "New Irish drama Kin set for global release". RTÉ.ie. 22 February 2021.
- ^ "'Kin': Charlie Cox's Crime Drama Renewed for Season 2 at AMC+". Collider. 10 February 2022.
- ^ Ravindran, Manori (8 July 2022). "Irish Crime Drama 'Kin,' From BRON Studios, Starts Production on Season 2 (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
- ^ Brent, Harry. "RTÉ airing new drama inspired by 'notorious' Irish gangsters". The Irish Post.
- ^ Gallagher, Jim (10 January 2021). "RTE hoping new drama inspired by Kinahan mob will be as successful as Love/Hate". Irish Mirror.
- ^ a b "Kin – Listings". Next Episode. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
- ^ RTÉ (20 August 2021). "A Dublin crime family goes to war in new drama Kin". RTÉ. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
- ^ "Kin: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
- ^ Alex McLevy (30 August 2021). "Daredevil himself, Charlie Cox, leads a stellar cast in by-the-numbers crime drama Kin". The A.V. Club.
- ^ "BBC acquires star studded Irish crime drama Kin". BBC Media Centre. BBC. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
- ^ "BBC to air second series of Kin". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 25 January 2024.