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The Waterfront is a new Netflix series which opens with a boat being seized by baddies, and the captain and first mate being forced overboard, bound and trussed up… but thankfully, not WITH Liz Truss.
The conveyance ends up aground on the beach and is owned by the Buckley family, famous to everyone and not just legends in their own lunchtime. They also have names like Harlan, Bree and Cane, and it’s son, Cane (Jake Weary) who owns it, but claims he sold it to Curtis – and it’s safe to mention that the latter is one of the drowned pair, as that pops up in the trailer, and it’s right at the beginning of the opener.
In 2025, the only way to make one’s way in the world is either through good, honest work, or as in Ozark, dealing drugs, but when certain individuals are controlling the supply, does Harlan Buckley (Holt McCallany – Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning) try to work WITH others, or does he want the whole pie for him and his family?
Well, since they own the harbour and a restaurant, the latter run by his wife, Belle (Maria Bello – The 5th Wave), and they’re in debt by millions, you can tell things won’t go too smoothly. However, given how much they have control of everything, is The Waterfront trying to be the new Dallas?
As well as getting shades of lavish ’80s mini-series Lace, this often starts feeling like the plot is sidelined, and it’s gone into soap opera territory, with everyone fancying everyone else, and most of them sleeping with whoever they like, regardless of marital status.
And during such times, men show their nipples when they do the business but women don’t. When will this balance be restored?
Yes, it seems to be okay to break the law when it suits in order to get ahead in life, yet when someone gets one over on recovering alcoholic Harlan, he pulls a face like a wet weekend. Hey, you can’t win ALL the time!
The Waterfront gets more ridiculous the longer it goes on, and is full of everyone shouting at each other and/or punching each other in the face, instead of using normal words. Hence, it’ll probably be a massive hit and run for years!
Thanks to our friends at Netflix for the screener prior to release.
The Waterfront is not available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD, but is on Netflix from today.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 45-60 minutes per episode (8 episodes)
Release date: June 19th 2025
Studio: Netflix
Format: 2.39:1
Series Directors: Erica Dunton, Liz Friedlander, Marcos Siega, Jann Turner
Producers: Ani Arutyunyan, David Blake Hartley, Barbara D’Alessandro
Creator: Kevin Williamson
Writer: Kevin Williamson, Michael Narducci, Katelyn Crabb, Lloyd Gilyard Jr, Brenna Kouf, Hannah Schneider
Music: John Frizzell
Cast:
Harlan Buckley: Holt McCallany
Bree Buckley: Melissa Benoist
Cane Buckley: Jake Weary
Shawn West: Rafael L Silva
Jenna Tate: Humberly González
Peyton Buckley: Danielle Campbell
Diller Hopkins: Brady Hepner
Belle Buckley: Maria Bello
Wes Larsen: Dave Annable
Tommy: J Elliott
DEA Agent Marcus Sanchez: Gerardo Celasco
Grady: Topher Grace
Sheriff Clyde Porter: Michael Gaston
Rodney Hopkins: Joshua Mikel
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.