Rebecka Martinsson

My wife and I had watched Season 1 years ago. We watched Season 2 and then went back and watched Season 1 again. We didn't remember the plots or who did it. The actress playing Rebecka in Season 1 is better than the one in Season 2. The episodes in Season 1 are also better scripted. We want to give Season 1 a 7.5 and Season 2 a 7.0, but we can't so the series gets a 7.0. We would recommend Season 1.

British police procedural(s) get pretty predictable after awhile. So I try Rebecka Martinsson and I really liked it a lot. Being minimalist in concept, scenery, dialogue, and acting is refreshing after the endless chattiness of the Brit shows. I agree with other reviewers that the actress who plays character Maria Mella (Eva Melander) is the acting class must watch BUT I thought Ida Engvoll was excellent. All the details concerning her back story are a bit irrelevant since the episodes don't really hinge on those (much). Sweden (in this series) looks cold, brooding, a bit mysterious (diving for Nazi plane?) and beautiful and that also describes Rebecka Martinsson. Engvoll correctly underplays her character a bit instead of overplaying it, like so many of the British coppers do. Hope there is a season 2.

The atmosphere and ambient of gloomy but astonishing Norther part of Sweden, has been achieved fully. Thats why I watched this show. Also, minimalist, but still very compact police station crew is excellent. The main inspector, Ana-Maria Mella, local with three kids at home, but still with all skills necessary for the police inspector, is a brilliant character. The other supporting characters, who all don't talk much, but say whats necessary, are all well done. The only real misfit, for completely unknown reason, badly written and poorly conceptualized character is the lead character - Rebecka Martinsson, who is wage and unclear from the beginning, but still not a mysterious at all. It seems she is a girl who has everything, a spoiled, educated, rich, who simply despises everything due to some traumas from early life, and finds her fulfillment in solving murders . However, we don't see why and how someone who had lost her parents early in life, and had to struggle heavily to achieve something, would behave like a spoiled careless diva, who wonders around and does what pleases her. Also, nobody understands how all of a sudden a corporate layer age 28 can become a chief criminal prosecutor, and how come she is qualified for that. It seems that her character is simply badly written and badly incorporated in the plot. Also, the acting in itself fails in this cases - no charisma, no chemistry at all between the actress and her role. In general, good show, with a wrong lead character. The authors should think about it.

With continuous blooming of Scandi Noir, particularly from Denmark and Sweden, this decade has seen dozens of crime dramas focusing on events in smaller places, not in major cities, enabling to fill the scenes with the beauty of nature and emphasising the mood. The smaller the place, the more the focus on family and community ties, often paving the way for more or less concealed crimes, with the roots decades ago.

Another example of all this is the series Rebecka Martinsson where the leading character with the same name, a lawyer, has to deal with her personal issues and solve crimes which motives seem odd at first, if any - mildly speaking... People are mostly indrawn, living with their routines and modestly (in Swedish terms), but the wild nature in the middle of nowhere of/in Kiruna area is majestic and beautiful - at least to be enjoyed in front of TV, in a heated room :)

The series in question is more into the "old" approach, with 1 major case per 2 episodes, and it is only due to the main character that one might see the season in succession - for full comprehension of her motives and notions. Ida Engvoll is good, distinct (I have noticed and remembered her before, in other films), but she does often solo, her co-characters are often perfunctory, and the cases are not too interesting, plus the wrongdoers can be guessed too easily, too early (as they are performed by more known actors-actresses unlikely to appear in a brief role only). There are some twists and catchy moments, but still, I have seen many catchier stuff recently, e.g. Innan vi dör. Springfloden, where you are eager to watch all episodes "at once and promptly"...

Watched this series on the Acorn streaming service. Even with the subtitles I was surprised at how good a show it is. Some of the scenes are hard to take. This show was much better that anything on air here in the US. Highly recommend.