MalcolmN-8

Oh dear I was so bored even by the end of episode one. Absolute utter tosh. So slow For me there's no chemistry between the characters. In my opinion it's not really noir, just gratuitously unpleasant, with almost every character at work and at home being rude and swearing at each other often for no reason.

It's also so unrealistic. For example Health and safety would have a field day with the management over the basement rooms Carl is sent to in episode one. It's an unlit, rubbish strewn death trap and if he was injured the managers who sent him there would be prosecuted. He starts by asking Assad to clean it. The office would have to be risk assessed and cleaned by the organisation. Moreover police are all unionised and the union would not allow one of their members to be treated like that. Furthermore if the Scottish government was funding a new cold case department they would want to know how the money was being spent and see the accounts.

The court cross examination in episode one is also unrealistic, the barrister is addressing the defendant which must be cross examination but instead of asking a question she makes an interminable speech which any decent judge would stop. I could go on but all that is just episode one.

This is a simple story. Two people were split apart by something that happened ten years ago and meet again unexpectedly. The acting is powerful as the two revisit their shared past and the back story gradually emerges. Also the filming is very atmospheric with long silences and realistic background sounds of the setting where it all takes place. The interest is in how the two characters interact after ten years apart and how they have changed, or not, in that time. Don't expect much of a story though, and in the end I personally found the lack of character development or any changed outcome from their meeting somewhat disappointing.