Thin Blue Line

Exceptional direction, screenplay and acting. Pretty much faultless, emotive and somewhat inspiring

Brilliant, just absolutely brilliant - so realistic it takes you on a journey that you really want to escape from sometimes, lucky for us we can switch it off, the real police can't. No wonder they end up with so much PTSD, this programme truly shows the crap they put up with and that sometimes they fall down with the pain of it all. The best TV I've watched in ages, the characters are believable, the storylines are breathtakingly realistic, I can't wait for the next season.

Tunna blå linjen doesn't concern itself with the practical mechanics of the police profession, but rather turns its focus on the social and psychological aspects of being police. The show respects the viewers' intelligence and portrays people, events and problems as multifaceted and complex. The characters are well casted, well acted and most importantly incredibly well written, and they feel like real living, breathing and thinking people. Editing, casting, cinematography, sound design, music and acting are competently handled, but the writing is where this show really shines. The exposition of backstory and characters' traits are so completely woven into the flow of the narrative that it's invisible. It's a very competently crafted script.

The show is shot on location in Malmö, in the actual streets it portrays.The city isn't a prop or lifeless backdrop, it's the core of the series. It colors everything, from how the characters speak, what they speak about to what they do. This show is about Malmö (albeit a somewhat fictionalized version) as much as it's about the characters that live there.

All in all a show that with empathy and intelligence crafts a compelling story of people in Malmö who happens to work as police. It's just great.

Have seen both seasons of this series and am quite impressed. They really show some of the day to day challenges of being a police officer while also making the characters out to be ordinary humans who make mistakes and can be heroic and professional. After getting to know them, you really have empathy for them even when they sometimes are not at their best. While this takes place in Sweden, you will see they deal with the same issues that any city police force has to. They kind of put an emphasis on how social media is influencing their self perception and I wonder if that is the case in police forces and they got a little too into their personal romances in the second half of the first season but I also found the second season to be well balanced between their personal lives and the pressures of their jobs. But, you will have a jaw dropping end of the second season. Recommended if you like police stories.

The only reason I don't rate this 10 is because it is excruciating to watch, being so painfully realistic. It doesn't follow the traditional cop shows where one or more cases are followed from start to finish. It instead tells the story of the persons in the uniforms, humanizing them, in their daily life as regular "street" police officers. They don't get to crack the big cases, instead they only see misery and darkness.

Excellent acting in believable characters, in combination with the realistic script, makes this one of the best shows in the genre. But don't expect snappy comments, shootouts or high speed car chases. It's a drama, not an action or thriller.

If nothing else, watch it to get a better understanding of what police officers have to deal with on a daily basis.