Rebecka Martinsson

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.

The teasers before the title credits got me interested each time and how each story played out kept my interest. The characters were given real depth and quirks - Some of them are shown to be quite imperfect and therefore very human. I really like the format of 4 x 90 minute contained stories. Afterwards, I found myself looking up several of the cast member's back catalogue and that's always a good thing. Quality stuff.

Overall, I enjoyed this addition to the Scandi Noir TV cannon. The character of Rebecka Martinsson has so much promise. Sadly, this promise did not seem to be fully embraced by Ida Engvoll. Of course, this may be because Ida Engvoll chose to deliberately hold back her portrayal of Rebecka in order to reveal more about her character in a potential second series. Nevertheless, I would have liked to have seen at least hints of a more rounded Rebecka in the first series.

The true strength in this Scandinavian drama, apart from the lovely scenery, lies with the supporting characters. In particular, the very capable and very human police officer Anna Maria Mella, Rebecka's potential love interest and police dog handler Krister Eriksson and her kindly elderly male neighbour Sivving Fjallborg.

I do hope there will be a second series. The first certainly created enough interest in the characters to care about how they develop.

Just as good and right as season 1 was just as bad and faulty season 2 gets. Everything built up around the characters in season 1 just went lost when replacing actor for main character Rebecka Martinsson. She becomes insecure and all the things you loved with the quirkiness and the magic around all relationships are gone. Since the stories and production is fantastic I really hope for a season 3 but only with Engvoll back as Rebecka