What if Shawshank Redemption was a workplace sitcom with zero redemption and maximum chaos?
Season 1 • Episode 8
LatestA backwater prison house is expecting a high-profile international inspection. The delegation members will review living conditions and inmates’ «customer experience». Both conditions and inmates’ sentiments are far from perfect. But positive review from the inspection panel is a must! So General Hobotov, who is in charge of the prison house, thinks out of the box. He orders to replace real inmates with actors, who, for a hefty fee, will act as the most satisfied and happy crooks in the world. But things get complicated: some real inmates are left behind, and prison’s guards are desperately trying to hide the secret diamond mining business they handle together with the convicts.
Acting
Merzlikin's desperate bureaucrat energy is *chef's kiss*
Writing
Satire so sharp it cuts through two regimes
Production
Glorious Soviet-chic decay aesthetic
Creator
Artjom Nasybulin
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The 'customer experience' framing directly mocks Russia's actual prison reform theater and Western NGO evaluation culture.
Creator Nasybulin previously worked in state television, which explains the terrifying authenticity of bureaucratic panic.
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