Flikken Maastricht

After 4 episodes I can safely conclude that ''Flikken: Maastricht'' is a worthy police show on Dutch television. It has more depth and character development than in ''Baantjer'' and less over-the-top violence than in ''Van Speijk''. It's a bit written by the book, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

If I do have to complain about the show, I'd say that ex-soap star Angela Schijf just isn't a very strong performer. She's a charismatic person, but one needs more to make a character come to life. Now she seems like a whining kid who never grew out of puberty instead of the grumpy female detective she has to play. Victor Reinier is very good in his role as ''older'' policeman on the edge. It's funny to see him in this role, considering that he played the greenish assistant for '' De Cock '' in countless episodes of Baantjer.

I also adore the fact that this show has Maastricht as a setting. This city has a nice Burgundian air to it, strengthened by having an old-fashioned tavern as one of the recurring locations in the show.

I'm watching Flikken Maastricht via BVN, which is a free to air satellite broadcast. Maastricht is to The Netherlands what New Orleans is to the US, but without the music. The food, mardi gras, French influences, those are all similar. In the series there's nothing that refers to the couleur locale, save for the back ground. The indigenous Maastricht people speak a beautiful language, just like New Orleans cajun, but I haven't find one character who sounds like a local.

But, what bothers me most is how the writers are unable to build a story. They have no clue how to set up the key scenes of the program. It's structured like an Emeril show, first you take this, than you do that and voilá, there's your gumbo.

How many foreign companies have picked up the show?

The level of acting in the series is below average and things never get realistic. Characters are shallow and badly cast. I watch Scandinavian, French, Israelian and even Polish series, but this just has no nothing..

As an American with barely any knowledge of the Dutch language, I can still say that Flikken Maastricht is a top-notch detective series that anyone would find enjoyable. Its not just about the crimes and cops and criminals, its about people that anyone can identify with. Its much more realistic in that it deals with crimes both large and small that detectives in mid-size police forces would likely encounter. For the male viewers there is plenty of hot totties to turn your head and for the ladies there is Victor Reinier. Plus, the Maastricht setting is simply gorgeous. Now, if only the producers would put out a box set with English subtitles perhaps I could stop bothering my Dutch friend for translations of things I don't quite understand.

People who've said its boring, I bet they've only watched the First episode, its 13 almost 14 seasons now as i'm writing this (sunday july 14 2019) question would It been so high in season number if it was boring? look the Benelux is not america, the budgets in the netherlands is far less than in hollywood. Maybe it has a rocky start at first but when you get further into the show I mean in seasons, it gets more intens along the way.