Kein böser Traum

This Polish mini-series had me hooked from the beginning, and I thought it was excellent. The bad reviews I read came from people who didn't understand the story. Everything is very well explained at the end, all the crimes and all the murders. The actors are excellent, especially the main actress. But besides her, the characters are very well defined, such as her best friend and the police chief. An extremely tense series, with evil personified by an extremely violent criminal and an elegant and perverse lawyer. A mini-series that deserves to be watched in a marathon. Forget these negative comments.

It's pretty much exactly what I'd expect after watching two other adaptations of his books. (I find them frustrating and silly but treat them like a guilty pleasure from time to time.) He's got a formula, which makes certain plot points very predictable. Certain characters always make foolish, questionable choices. The people mentioning the fact that this one is Polish are revealing themselves. It's so similar to Fool Me Once. If you think that one was great and this was horrible, and if you complain about the Polish names and can't spell the name Jacek when we saw and heard it ad nauseam, that's a "you" issue.

What a frustrating watch. This show had potential, but the characters? Absolutely infuriating.

Let's start with the dumb wife-her husband goes missing under mysterious circumstances, she gets shot at, her kids are threatened... and her first instinct? Not to call her husband's colleagues or get real help, but to start making jewelry. Priorities, I guess. Then she turns down private protection-why? She's a mousy, unprepared person up against actual criminals, yet somehow thinks she can handle this alone? And to top it off, she conveniently knows nothing-nothing about a major accident in her past, nothing about her husband. How useful are you, lady?

The dumber husband isn't any better. He notices someone following him, confronts them without being armed, then turns his back like it's all good. Of course, he gets sucker punched. He escapes... and then just gets found again. Fantastic.

The police? Useless. Casual, sarcastic, wasting time on unnecessary details, and just completely unsympathetic. Then there's the prosecutor, who starts off with what seemed like an important storyline about his daughter but does absolutely nothing except stalk the dumb wife. His actual contribution? Zero.

Even the dumb wife's friend, who at least had the sense to call the police quickly, still managed to fumble her role. If you're trying to be subtle while snooping, maybe don't openly announce your sneak peeks? Just saying.

Then we have the bad guy, and honestly? Props to him for being the only competent character. He keeps winning, and at this point, I don't even mind.

The story itself? A mess. Too many pointless side characters that add nothing. The initial intrigue gets buried under ridiculous character choices, and by the end, you just don't care anymore. Hard pass.

As "Just One Look" (2025 release from Poland; 6 episodes ranging from 41 to 52 min.) opens, a prisoner asks to meet with a prosecutor. The prisoner confesses to killing the prosecutor's daughter in a botched hit scheme. In a parallel story, we are introduced to Greta. Greta has a recurring nightmare about a fire and an indoor concert that killed 28 people... At this point we are 10 minutes into Episode 1.

Couple of comments: this TV mini-series is based on the book of the same name by prolific Polish crime novelist Harlan Coben. The story line is complex and involves quite a few characters. It took me well into Episode 2 before it finally started coming together for me. The entire series is plot-heavy, with quite a few turns and twists, so the less said about that, the better. The episodes are fairly short, and this flew by in no time. This is not bad as such but as compared to that other Polish min-series I watched the other day called "Eastern Gate", this lags behind.

"Just One Look" recently started streaming on Netflix and Netflix "suggested" it to me (probably because I watched "Eastern Gate" also just recently). If you are in the mood for a TV crime mini-series set in Poland, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

Another story with so many holes. Frustrating the viewer as they ponder through the scenes as to whether this or that would happen. Could be so much better. Whether the author or the producers I get the impression one does not get out much. Usual bring in a pretty main character a bit of sex an old prosecutor and make a mix and hope. Watch if you like murder mystery but do not expect much. So many errors. A prison inmate on the loose that the police can't catch and seem to be impotent. No reason for all the scenes. No connections between characters. A story that gets worse as you watch. Directed as in the 70's but set today.