Sedem Chasa Razlika (Bulgarian: Седем часа разлика, literally "Seven Hours Difference", though "Seven Timezones Apart" or something would be more appropriate) is a Bulgarian series that started in late 2011.
The plot has two main theatres of development, Sofia and New York. The story revolves around several groups of individuals: the school senior Teo and his family, the families of court judge Tanya Stoeva, her best friend Mihail 'Miloto' Mihaylov, who is a crime boss, a young idealistic prosecutor and a Russian mob boss harassing Tanya Steva's brother Boyan, who owns a bar in New York.
The series begin with Teo, who has just hooked up with his classmate Maya. Menawhile Tanya Stoeva, who is her mother, is appointed judge on a trial against Mihail Mihaylov building a hotel in a nature park. As Teo's mother rebukes him for his relationship and warns him to stay away from the girl as the people around Tanya Stoeva and her daughter are not to be trifled with, the boy clashes with Radoslav 'Roki' Mihailov - Miloto's son and Maya's former boyfriend. Not long after Teo and Maya are attacked as they sleep and Maya is raped. Though Roki is initially charged with the crime, Tanya and several other parties investigate the case independently. This and Miloto's trial trigger a cascade of intrigues and gambits as each party faces an unknown enemy. As the plot advances, the fates of these and other characters intertwine in unpredictable ways and dirty secrets are being uncovered.
This show provides examples of:
- Added Alliterative Appeal: Mihail 'Miloto' Mihailov. See Fluffy the Terrible below for an explanation of his nickname.
- The Chessmaster: Kiril Kotzev, undoubtedly. Confirmed at the end of the second season. He basically orchestrated the whole cascade of conflicts in the series.
- Chewing the Scenery: Miloto, when he gets pissed and only his underlings are around.
- Fluffy the Terrible: Mihail 'Miloto' Mihailov again. A crime boss with a nickname that means "The Darling".
- The Mafiya: Crime bosses, a Bulgarian (Miloto) as well as a Russian (Rasputin), are among the main cast. With their bodyguards and henchmen and all.
- Meaningful Name: Slavcho Kurtev's family name derives from the Bulgarian word for mole, his function in the court.
- Murder the Hypotenuse: Back in 1993, Tania's boyfriend who turned out to be Maia's biological father Pavel Stankov miraculously survived an attempt on his life by Miloto. Of course the crime boss made it look like a car accident in a snow storm.
- One Degree of Separation: A few of the more enigmatic characters connect everybody else:
- Kiril Kotzev: Colleague of General Luka Karlov during his secret agent career; lover of his daughter Svetlana Stefanakova; former trainer, longtime friend and occasional business partner to Miloto and Tania Stoeva; acquaintance of Pavel Stankov/Paul Stankoff (ex-boyfriend of Tanya Stoeva and biological father of her daughter).
- Vasil Nikolov and Luka Karlov have some rather complex history together: 20 years ago General (then Lieutenant) Karlov put him into prison for illegal emigration attempt; said lieutenant also took $10000 from Vasil's girlfriend Agurig in order to release her; in prison Vasil befriends the elderly Teodor Stefanakov and after being released lives with the family of his son Stefan and grandson Teo; Teo's other (maternal) grandfather is none other than the aforementioned Luka Karlov.
- Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Tania Stoeva plans to have a guy rape Roki since she thinks the latter raped her daughter.
