Raid

I was lucky to watch this series, even though not until 2019, as it definitely has some good points to it. It has a pretty good plot and storyline with many subplots and quirky character interactions which provided subtle humor throughout. The action and special effects were sort of amaturish, and maybe done intentionally to match the style and era of the times, but if not, then looked sort of lame but still worked well enough nothing was ruined by it. It ran 12 eps which seemed a little long for the actual amount of content and could easily been cut down to 10 eps and maybe even 8 eps with nothing lost. At 12 eps it still maintained my attention but tested it. Most of the main characters did their jobs well but the whole series had sort of a 70's - 80's feel to it, but with cell phones, even though in 2000 cell phones were still fairly big and bulky and not everyone had one yet and this was evident. The characters were all very well developed and also coincidentally all intertwined and related throughout the main plot and all the subplots, go figure right. It's always amazing that the guy your looking for is an old partner or ex girl friends father is seeking same info or the ex pro criminal always seems to be one step ahead of the police in solving the crimes. The body count was massive, just enough sex and relationship trip, the usual police higher ups are idiots, corrupt, or in on it, and plenty of very quirky snitches, homeless, bums, and bad guys. This could almost be a dark comedy but is really a dramedy. I rated this an 8, good, because of so much to see and understand, but just barely.

Character development and acting are the strength of this drama of political conspiracy with dire economic consequences. Piirainen says that the events surrounding Escon are fictional, but in the wake of the collapse of the US company Enron, they are very believable. Kai Lehtinen plays Raid as an instinctive but troubled hero, surrounded by quirky, well-developed characters. Raid is at times almost a superhero, an effective, but self-restrained killing machine, but can be all too human. Lehtinen is stoically handsome, but not a pretty boy.

One wonders if Hollywood could ever cast a leading lady like Mari Rantasila (Tarja), or Kirsti Vaananen (Susisaari), both of whom were very fetching without being runway perfect (or surgically enhanced). Oiva Lohtander (Jansson), Tuula Nyman (Ms Hakala), Juha Muje (Sundman), Esko Salmonen (Uki) and Risto Aaltonen (Hallvik) struck me as utterly convincing in their parts. Pekka Huotari (Huusko) who is called 'Hopo' by coworkers, but Goofy in the subtitles, cracks lame jokes, makes inappropriate comments and delivers obscure lines about Wild Bill Hickock, but manages to be sympathetic. Tapio Liinoja (Hammar) was a deserving villain, not over-the-top, just a self-interested sociopath.

There are many references to American culture: Sundman's Beach Boys songs, posters of Clint Eastwood (homage to Sergio Leone), bottles of Johnnie Walker. There are few recognizable references to any other (non-Finnish) culture, except for automobiles. Two Mercedes, a BMW, a Toyota and a Jaguar figure prominently among the humble Ladas of the police force.

Raid is a Finish masterpiece of crime movies and series. death and backstabbing has never been this funny. Lohdanter makes his jobs best part as tubby detective Jansson and Kai Lehtinen as stoned face hitman RAID.

When I started to watch this series I was skeptical. Finnish crime drama, how could that work. Well it did, big time. First of all, the characters are truly unique. Raid, Hopo, Sanna, truck driver, porn salesman, "perse-arska"... wow! And you gotta love the lieutenant Jansson's sarcastic one-liners. Brilliant! Also, the plot is interesting enough to keep you awake. It is also nice to see Hopo's and Sanna's relationship to evolve. The neighborhood's maradona was also a funny figure. There is no doubt that Raid is the best finnish crime drama ever. Particularly, because it contains enough finnish humour to keep us all at our seats. :-)

Kai Lehtinen is amazing in the part of Raid. Raid is a hitman with morals. Now he has come back to Finland after many years to investigate the strange circumstances surrounding the suicide of his former loved one. The series is packed with colorful characters who are played by the best of the best finnish actors. Writer/director Piirainen has adapted the series from Nykänen's novels. I have not read the books, but I've heard that the series is even better. So, for anyone who hasn't seen it yet... if you have a chance to catch this somewhere, I warmly recommend. It's available on DVD in Finland.

***** / *****