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'LOVE/Hate', RTE's crime drama, returns tomorrow evening with an hour of gruelling, exhilarating, absolutely riveting television. Watching a preview DVD of this episode, one man and one piece of work came to mind: Martin Scorsese's 'The Departed'.
Yes, 'Love/Hate' really is so good that it stands comparison with the great director's Oscar-winning film about Irish mobsters tearing up Boston. And it has the same tone, a massive energy propelling the viewer through a dangerous underworld where anything can and often does happen -- and it's usually bad.
It's surely the best TV drama this country has ever produced: 'Love/Hate' provides fantastic entertainment, but on a deeper level, reaches almost Shakespearean heights in theme and character.
In Sunday's season-three opener, gang boss Nidge (Tom Vaughan-Lawlor) surveys the Dublin crime scene as lord and king. Having disposed of John Boy, he now rules the rackets with a mixture of cold-eyed ruthlessness and shrewd diplomacy.
Things go awry when a local IRA unit mistakenly beats...