To Catch the Kaidash(Ukrainian: «Спіймати Кайдаша») is a 2020 Ukrainian 12-episode television series, created by ProKino LLC for STB TV channel.^[1] The screenwriter and executive producer of the project is Nataliia Vorozhbyt. The plot of the TV series is based on the social novella Kaidash's Family by Ivan Nechuy-Levytskyi.^[2]

The TV series premiered on March 2, 2020, on STB (TV Channel).^[3] Despite the significant success of the TV series, Nataliia Vorozhbyt has repeatedly stated that she does not plan to create a second season and stressed that the season 2 is unlikely to appear.^[4]

Synopsis

The plot is loosely based on the novel Kaidash’s Family of the Ukrainian writer Ivan Nechuy-Levytskyi. In the original, the events take place in the 1860s, several years after the cancellation of serfdom. The creator of the series Nataliia Vorozhbyt introduced many modifications in comparison with the original – the events were shifted to the period of 2000s-2010s and new storylines were added. The events of the TV series unravel chronologically from 2005 to 2014, during a decade of independent Ukraine. The main storylines display an immutable dispute between two generations of the same family – parents and children. The plot of the TV series is full of dramatic confrontations between all family members. The climax of the conflict took place in 2014, when the family is polarized by the attitude to the Maidan. One of Kaidash's sons, Lavrin, expresses his patriotic opinions during hard times for Ukraine and joins the struggle for independence. He decided to become a volunteer fighter  and defend Ukraine from the Russian aggression.At the same time, another Kaidash's son, Karpo, became a supporter of Russia. He accused the "maidanuti" (the disparaging name for the participants of the protest against Yanukovych in 2013–14) of the Revolution of Dignity and the annexation of Crimea and Donbass by Russia.^[5] The 12th episode ends  in a cliffhanger.^[4]

Original title

The first title of the series, as proposed by the creator Nataliia Vorozhbyt, was "Kaidash’s Family of the XXI century". This is the project title used in the contract between the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine and PROKINO LLC on the production of the film, signed in November 2018.^[6][7]

However, the screenwriter herself interprets the idiomatic expression "to catch the Kaidash", which means to become distressed or to reflect on life, as more modern and appropriate.

The executives immediately liked the name, although the promotional department wanted to restore the original title because the viewer would have more associations with the novel. The creator of the TV-series and the creative team supported the title "to Catch the Kaidash" because Kaidash's Family would sound outdated. Besides everybody familiar with the book would expect a film version and would be disappointed with the modern adaptation. Then, those people who hated Kaidash's Family when reading it at school would not have watched it because of the title.^[4]

Cast

Production

Release

In Ukraine, the premiere of the TV series was originally planned on the STB channel in late February 2020, but was later postponed to March 2, 2020.

Seasons and episodes

Season 1^[17]

Lavrin returns from the military service and is greeted by his family. His neighbor Tania is especially pleased to see him and makes love with Lavrin on the first night after his return to spite Karpo. At the same party, Karpo sees Motria and falls in love with her. He invites her to the club, but she comes with Artem, the son of the collective farm chairman. Lavrin hangs out with other girls, while Karpo is pining for Motria. He is certain that she is marrying Artem. Kaidashykha advises Karpo to confess his sins. He goes to the church and meets Motria there. She says that she is not getting married, but is going to work in the town. On the day of her departure, Karpo kidnaps her right from the bus stop.

Tania catches Karpo and Motria making love in the woods. She is desperate. Motria forces Karpo to propose to her. Their parents are against the marriage. Kaidash is forced to get into debt because of the wedding. Tania tries to poison herself with medicines on the wedding day. Lavrin goes with her to the hospital, she is saved and he finds out about her pregnancy. During the wedding, Karpo finds out that Motria slept with Artem. He makes a scene because she was lying to him. As a condition of reconciliation, he requires to move from Motria's wealthy parents to the Kaidash family. Motria's wedding night takes place in the brothers' shared room, and already at six in the morning Kaidashykha wakes her up for work.

Motria tries to please her mother-in-law and does all the housework, but overhears Kaidashykha discussing her with Baba Palazhka, calling her lazy. Motria takes revenge and quarrels break out in the Kaidash house. Kaidash  gets the blue devils for the first time during one of the quarrels. Motria accidentally finds Tania's letter in which she confesses her love and that she is pregnant by Karpo. Motria and Karpo quarrel and reconcile passionately. Lavrin sleeps in the kitchen, reads books and goes out with the girls. He is fed up with the arguments, and he, along with Artem, goes to work in the nearest town – Bohuslav. On Christmas, Lavrin comes back home and catches a grand scandal. He goes to Tania and sees her pregnant.

Every weekend Lavrin comes to the village from work and brings gifts not only for the relatives, but also for Tania, who recently gave birth to a girl. There are rumors in the village that Lavrin helps her for a reason. Tania gratefully accepts the help and has hope that Lavrin will marry her. Karpo is worried, suspecting that Tania's baby is his. Motria, who can't get pregnant, is even angrier because of this. Motria takes a job at the village council as an accountant. This causes Karpo to be jealous, because her boss is Artem's mother. Lavrin promises to go with Tania to the Pentecost celebration, but the day before he meets the girl of his dreams – Melashka.

The Kaidashes go for matchmaking to Melashka, where they find out that she is from a very poor family. And most importantly, she is underage and goes to school. Lavrin did not know about it either, and now he tries to come up with something to get his parents to let them get married. He finds a way out – to conceive a child with Melashka. Motria is worried about the living situation. She persuades Lavrin to renovate the barn. He agrees and makes a nice renovation. Motria is jealous and wants to move in there with Karpo. Out of spite, she buries their dog's little puppies. But then she tries to dig them up. Only one puppy stays alive.

Motria and Karpo live in the renovated barn, while pregnant Melashka and Lavrin live in the Kaidash house. Motria adores her dog. The only thing that does not give her peace - the joint property with the Kaidashes. During one of the quarrels, Motria and Kaidashykha get into a physical fight, Karpo pushes his father - and it all ends up with them going to the police. There they are advised to divide the property. Lavrin and Tania reconcile. She also makes friends with Melashka; the latter becomes the godmother of Tania's daughter Anzhelina. The godfather happens to be Artem, Motria's ex-boyfriend.

Lavrin goes to work as a builder in Obukhiv, and Melashka stays alone with the child. Kaidashykha does everything to make Melashka spend as little time as possible with her child. Melashka accidentally finds out that Tania is sleeping with Artem. Motria's dog is poisoned. Karpo and Motria take him to Bohuslav to the vet and then stay overnight at an inn there. After returning to the village, Karpo goes to Tania and suggests tadopting Anzhelina. But Artem comes out and states that he will adopt Tania's children. Returning from  hunting, Karpo sees a pack of dogs fighting near Anzhelina. Without thinking, he shoots at the pack and inadvertently kills Motria's dog. Motria leaves him and goes to her parents. Karpo suffers. He is offered a job in Bohuslav. Moving to Bohuslav is a chance to return Motria. Motria agrees to move. They get tested and it turns out that they cannot have children due to Karpo's infertility.

April 1 is coming – Marusia Kaidashykha's birthday. The hostess starts making preparations three days before the birthday. She butchers a chicken, cooks a lot of meat dishes and salads, sets the table and starts waiting for the guests. But the whole family forgot about her birthday. To make amends, Lavrin and Melashka decide to give the mother a present – Motria's tea set, which happened to be at hand. Karpo gives the mother a "new" mobile phone, which he confiscated from one of the customers of the service station where he works, because the customer refused to pay for  car repairing. Omelko continues to drink himself to death. He is ready to give away his watch for a bottle of horilka and even kneel down in front of a saleswoman in a store. Constant drinking results in the old man  becoming delirious again and even losing his speech. His family  take him to Bohuslav to see specialized doctors, but the doctors just shrug their shoulders.

In Semyhory people celebrate the New Year. Tania and Artem are going to visit Lavrin and Melashka, who are about to have a second baby. Karpo, the eldest son of the Kaidashes, and his wife Motria return from Bohuslav to the village and start living with Motria's parents. But even here, Motriais still worried. Her own mother hassles her saying that she has married the wrong man and has to divorce, while she is still young. Out of boredom, Motria gets so drunk at a New Year's party in the village council building that she forgets the way home. While miraculously abstaining from alcohol, Omelko starts going to the church and obeying the commandments of God. It seems as the long-awaited peace has finally come to the Kaidash house. But it does not last long, because on the New Year's Eve Motria decides to move back to the village and evict Lavrin and Melashka back to the parents' house.

The temporary peace that has reigned in the family gets broken by Melashka. She stops cooking and looking after the children and, instead, begins to speak harshly to her mother-in-law. Exhausted Lavrin is always at work to feed his family. His mother has been cooking for him for a second week. Amid all this mess, Easter comes . Baba Paraska gathers people who want to go to the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra for Easter cakes blessing. Melashka suddenly gets the urge to join the pilgrims on their journey. Kaidashykha is not happy because she does not want to clean the house herself before the holiday. But the very pious Omelko defends his daughter-in-law. Melashka goes to Kyiv and meets a woman who sells Easter eggs, and she offers her a job. Melaska escapes from Baba Paraska's control and stays at  the art workshop. She sends an apology message to Lavrin. Lavrin and his father come to Kyiv and try to find Melashka, showing her photo to visitors of the Lavra, but return home disappointed. While working in Kyiv, Malashka meets another man from Donetsk and starts an affair with him. The woman, Melashka lives and works with, decides to tell Lavrin what has happened to his wife.

A year passes after Melashk's has escape to Kyiv on Easter and her later return to the village. Now her parents-in-law try to talk to her more gently, give her less work, and Lavrin takes enormous care of his wife. But this peace is too fragile and can collapse any time because Melashka's phone's been blowing up with texts from her lover Sasha from Donetsk, whom she met in Kyiv. He continues to woo her, and Melashka does not hesitate to tell Tatiana and Sveta that she has fallen out of love with her husband. Omelko also has troubles: after a trip to Kyiv, he starts drinking again. Horilka affects him so much that he faints, becomes delirious, confuses the past with the present. He decides to get coded for alcoholism again: this time in Bohuslav. Motria accidentally tells Lavrin during their argument that Melashka is still dating her lover.

The family  has been living without a firm parental hand for a year — the father is paralyzed. Ukraine was also left without a head of state after the betrayal of Yanukovych and his flight to Russia. Euromaidan swept the oligarchs out of power, and after Russia's military aggression against Ukraine in the Crimea and Donbass, the Russo-Ukrainian War began. Karpo, in difficult times for Ukraine, shows his pro-Russian essence: he blames Euromaidan for everything, calls the Revolution of Dignity a virus of "maidanuti". He is angry because his employer and the local leader of the "Party of Regions" disappears, and he is left without a job. Lavrin cannot listen to his brother's anti-Ukrainian propaganda as well as cannot believe how it is possible to betray his nation. Semyhory has not been spared of the scourge — Vasyl, a friend of Karpo and Lavrin, are drafted into the army and go missing in the Battle of Ilovaisk. There are lots of refugees from eastern Ukraine in the village. Families are divided into two camps: some are sympathetic to the displaced people and ready to give them everything needed, while others see them as pro-Russian traitors and want them to leave Semyhory. Sveta often cries because of Vasyl, while Melashka cannot help thinking about Sasha from Donetsk, who also stopped writing to her. Motria finally gets pregnant. Lavrin decides to become a volunteer fighter.

Television ratings

During the premiere showing of the series  on STB TV channel fromMarch 2 to 11, 2020, 10.5 million viewers tuned in.^[18] More than 1,800,000 viewers watched the first episode on YouTube.^[19]

Reviews

After the broadcast in the spring of 2020, the series drew a significant response in the Ukrainian society.^[20] In particular, after the release of the series, it  received positive reviews on social media,^[21] with users  expressing their admiration for the choice of the cast,^[22] making the series one of the most discussed projects.^[21][23] Many reviewers called the series a "mirror" of the Ukrainians’ real life.^{[24][25][26][27]} In addition, it has been repeatedly compared on social media with  the TV series "Svaty" (adding that it is for "a more intelligent" audience).

At the same time, the series received contradictory reviews from film critics, whose reactions ranged from absolute delight to complete disappointment with the series. According to some film critics and viewers, one of the biggest drawbacks of the series is the use of surzhyk.

Film critic Serhiy Trymbach spoke positively about the series. In his opinion, the filmmakers managed to "place all the characters on the film "board" very accurately", corresponding to the motif of Ivan Nechuy-Levytskyi's novel. He also noted the language changes between the early series and later ones:^[28]

it is emphasized that the tear-off calendar <...> is in Russian, i.e. in the usual imperial discourse. And in the final episodes, the calendar is already in Ukrainian, as well as the songs (in the first episodes we hear mostly Russian pop music), radio and TV. That is, the words, the language itself begin to feel differently, they themselves become something else.

Ukrainian writer Serhiy Zhadan commented favorably on the film, calling it "an incredibly important and vivid phenomenon" of the Ukrainian cinematography.^[29] In his opinion, "no one has spoken so simply and convincingly about Ukrainians for a long time".^[25][29]

Nazar Danchyshyn, a reviewer, positively assessed Nataliia Vorozhbyt's parallels between Ukraine in Nechuy-Levytskyi's work and Ukraine after the proclamation of Independence. In particular, he draws an analogy between the serfdom abolition and the compulsory collective farms abolition after which the peasants live in the novel and TV series respectively. Danchyshyn also commended the acting, directing and cinematography in the series.^[26]

In general, having positively assessed the series, art critic Lena Chychenina noted that some viewers complained about the use of surzhyk in the series. Other viewers, on the contrary, admired the language of the series and praised the organic, real surzhyk.^[30]

Filmmaker Valentyn Vasianovych gave a negative  review of  the series, citing its pathos, vulgarity, bad editing, poor acting and sharovarschyna (a low-quality culture that speculates on national motives). However, he noted that he had watched only 15 minutes of the first episode.^[31] For those film critics and viewers who did not like it, the biggest drawback of the series was the language of the series, or rather the frequent use of surzhyk. Yaroslav Sumyshyn, a journalist, called surzhyk "the biggest flaw of the series, and noted that the series popularizes surzhyk, subconsciously instilling in movie fans a disdainful attitude towards the Ukrainian language".^[32] A similar opinion was expressed by journalist Yulia Vvedenska, who also called surzhyk the biggest drawback of the series, and noted that although "surzhyk should have added the "atmosphere" and "rural flavor", it often just "grates on the ear.""; Vvedenska sums up her review noting that the overall impression of the series is negative and you feel "as if [you] were spoon-fed the image of the "average Ukrainian peasant", densely seasoned by toxic Kremlin propaganda".^[33] Yuriy Shevchuk, a professor and the head of the Ukrainian film club at Columbia University, was even more categorical about the language of the series, calling the series "the pinnacle of primitiveness, bad taste and falsehood, which encourages surzhyk, i.e. the pathetic brand of Moscow slavery".^[34]

A possible sequel

Despite the significant success of the series, Nataliia Vorozhbyt repeatedly stated in  interviews with Ukrainian media that she did not plan to make a second season because "this is a complete story". However, she does not entirely exclude such a possibility if  she is provided with "comfortable conditions" for writing the script, allowing her to write it for a year and a half.^[4][8]

Nataliia Vorozhbyt also noted that there are many scenes that were not included into the final version of the TV series, and there is a possibility that TV channel "STB" will release an "extended director's cut" of the first season.^[35] An extended version of the series was broadcast on "STB" from August 31 to September 10, 2020.^[36]

References