Rejseholdet

First off, I'm an American -- I haven't seen any comments on IMDb about this series yet from a U.S. viewer. Secondly, I work in the television business in development. So I wallow in much of the sludge that comes out of American broadcast programming. "Unit One" is an example of television that's a throwback to what I would attribute as '70s-style scripting, feature-wise. Namely, those films made by young autueurs who had free rein to make the dramas feel more realistic and to allow for organic character development. It tacks more along the lines of stellar British dramas like "Cracker" and "Prime Suspect" as well as Australia's brilliant "Underbelly." "Unit One" features stand-alone cases that are committed, then solved, each week. The mysteries aren't extraordinary or particularly byzantine. They usually center around one single twist, clocking in generally at the 40 minute mark, and resolution is neatly wrapped up in the 15 minutes thereafter. What makes this series a breath of fresh air is that it features main characters that you are hooked on and find relatable by episode 2. These are real, breathing, alive characters that have personal baggage, yet it's not a talky, batty type of baggage that American flotsam such as "Grey's Anatomy" or "Desperate Housewives" spoons out. These are realistic individuals whose backstories unfold leisurely over the course of the series, as if you work with them on a daily basis. After the mindless decade of "CSI's," "NCIS's," and "Criminal Minds," along with their subsequent spawns, it's refreshing to actually sit down to watch friends you want to spend time with, as is the case with "Unit One." The quippy banter, the unemotional wooden dialogue, and the over-the-top jeopardy that those American series I mentioned bludgeon us with each week are absurd compared to the nuance and the quiet resonance you get with this remarkable Danish series. I'm on episode 7 of the first season, but I've already bought all four seasons and am in for the long haul. If you need explosions and farcically-hopped up testosterone, along with music by The Who and fast-cutting, neon-lit, jittery palsy-cam action with cipher-like main characters as your main diet of television drama viewing, I suggest you stay away from this series. If you are an adult with a hunger for subtle, poignant, thoughtful and, yes, sometimes straight-forward procedural crime dramas, I urge you to check this show out.

I've seen selected episodes of Unit One on German television and am extremely impressed. I'm a fan of several Swedish crime series (Commissar Beck and the Henning Mankell mysteries), but Unit One is just as good, if not better. What is surprising is how much it packs into little over an hour. Not only does it cover the case in all its complications, but it also covers various back stories, the private conflicts that affect the members of Unit One. The writing, the cast, the photography, the direction are all superb, and I can only hope that ZDF in Germany will show all the episodes, and when they do, that they will put the series in primetime, and not in a late-night slot as they have up to now.

This is one of the best danish tv series alltime! The series is about a police crew who investigates murders of all kind. The episodes is based on actual danish murder cases so the show are very realistic. I think its great entertainment and definitely a look worth

Yep, I too love the series, shown here in Australia on SBS. When it's on I fire up google earth and get my aerial view of the crime scene in Denmark! Charlotte Fich, and Trine Pallesen are gorgeous although some people say that Charlotte looks a bit like New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clarke (well Helen Clarke would do well if she looked more like Charlotte)!

Some things puzzle me a little, First is the video "treatment", it seems to have some "texture" or treatment which puzzles me a little as it looks like it has passed through analogue production processes.

Second is one of the bridges in the opening title sequence. Is this bridge the one between West Zeeland (Vastsjaelland) and Fyns?

Well done to the team at "Rejseholdet", and glad IMDb has the literal translation of the original title.

This series only began (on SBS TV) here in Australia around a month ago, and I'm already hooked!! Whilst not the best or the most original cop show there is, it's well made, and the stories are believable, and the characters of the police are well drawn. Mostly, I like the balance between the crime-of-the-week and the personal lives of the detectives, where the latter never ever seems to overshadow the former, as it should be, but the personal insights into regular characters gives them substance and dimension.

I'd recommend it to anyone who likes their crime shows on TV to be straight-forward and without too much fanfare and sensation.