Der junge Wallander

The writers got lazy, and just ended the season abruptly. Very disappointed. But the acting and the storyline up until the last episode was really good. I still think I would watch it even with the disappointing ending because the storyline and the characters are really well done. I'm just disappointed with the ending.

This is made by Yellow Bird UK and other than the lead actor who is Swedish the cast is British. It's also set in the present which means it serves as neither a prequel to the British or Swedish series. It's also not filmed in Sweden like the other series but in Lithuania. It's not a bad show but it just doesn't feel like Wallander.

This is coming from having seen both the Swedish Wallander (Krister Henriksson) series (which is the best) and the UK Wallander (Kenneth Brannagh) series (which is also very good), and watched only one of the Swedish movies with Rolf Lassgård (as the others are hard to come by).

First, Young Wallander is set in current day, which is the first thing which already is a problem. Going into it expecting a real prequel set at the end of the 60's or early 70's and seeing a brand spanking new volvo already gave me a WTF, then seeing a mobile phone made me really think WTF is this.... Ok, then I just adjusted my expectations, but it surely was not what I expect from a 'Young Wallander'. I think they did it to keep the costs down, as a period piece is much more expensive, and with in mind if it's successful they can still go on for many years and still keeping the costs down.

Second, even though the actor looks great, his voice is really annoying, as he sounds like he has an astma problem or out of breath every single time he opens his mouth. Krister, Kenneth and even Rolf never sounded so hoarse. And the other problem is what's point three...

Third, English. Even though Kenneth Brannagh's version was completely in english, it wasn't really a problem, but in this version it's clear Adam Pålsson is not a native english speaker and it shows, it's the second thing about this actor which makes it not so great to watch him play, he has a very thick accent while the rest of the cast hasn't.. They should have just cast an english actor or done the whole series in original swedish (latter would have been my preference). Now it really annoyes the hell with the actor AND speaking hoarse AND having a bad accent.

I think it might be based on the book in which it has 5 stories about his youth, but if it is, it just wasn't really translated well by the creators of this series.. It is clear Henning Mankell wasn't involved himself in this series like he was in the previous incarnations. For a 6 parter I think it just dragged on too much, this story could have fit much better as a 1 hour and 30 minutes episode like the Henriksson and Brannagh series had done. I'm still gonna watch any new season as I'm just a sucker for detectives, but I still think it's a shame they botched this a bit by the miscast of this actor (pure based on his voice/accent, not his acting itself).

I was hoping that this series would be set in the past like Endeavor/Morse but sadly, this is not going to tell us the moody, brooding backstory of Kurt Wallander. It is a little too modern for my taste, but we watched it anyway.

The action seems to move along at a decent pace and tells the story well. Kurt makes some judgment errors yet seems to be a competent (though learning his way) as a new detective. The series isn't a typical gloomy Scandi Noir nor a fast-paced UK cop show, but this one stands on its own.

(This is a British production, NOT American. The British series was set in Sweden and performed by British actors, as is this one. The Swedish series was set in Sweden and has Swedish dialogue.) Swedes are NOT Swiss.

I never read the books so I didn't really know what to expect from Young Wallander but I ended up liking it quite a bit. It's a gritty, edgy police detective show that will keep you entertained throughout the series!