Shuler

What it’s about

Kostik Voloshin works as a junior researcher at a Moscow institute, but his real trade is cheating at cards. He wants to escape the Soviet Union and take his mother with him, since his father already lives abroad and the family should be together again. That takes a lot of money, so Kostik goes back to his native Odessa, where old friends, teachers and patrons can help his schemes. He does not expect to fall in love with Maya, a journalist. But he is not the only one after her: Uncle Lyosha Balaban also has feelings for Maya, and Kostik must face that rivalry.

What hooks you

The series draws on the life of Anatoly Barbakaru, a real Soviet con man and card sharp from Odessa who was put on a nationwide wanted list and later became a writer and TV host. Anton Feoktistov plays the lead.

Who it’s for

It suits viewers who like period crime stories set in the late Soviet era, where a charming rogue runs risky schemes under a repressive system, and those who enjoy a love triangle that complicates an already dangerous plan.