The Bridge

Geez. Most people clearly have no clue what people on the autism spectrum are like. Sonia cross has what is formerly known as aspergers-now it's reclassified as a form of ASD-autism spectrum disorder. As someone who deals with this, I can say that Diane's performance is SPOT on. The first episode may have been a little shaky-but after that it's all good. I also want to point out that further in the series you do see her character get emotional-and I've seen people complain about that, because they claim it's "innacurate". It's not. People on the spectrum are prone to meltdowns and sometimes innapropriate emotional reactions. This can easily happen when it's something that's emotionally connected to them. Diane does a great job with this role.

The first season is a remake of the original Danish-Swedish version of The Bridge but they do enough differently to make it interesting. The show uses the story of the bridge murder to explore the dynamic between the US and Mexico and the corruption and helplessness felt in the face of the powerful narcos.

The first season does a good job with the remake and then the second season dives deeper into the narco state and the people that are corrupted or left dead in its wake. Some great characters pop up and there is no black and white, only interesting shades of gray among them. I really enjoyed the second season which started to remind me of Breaking Bad a bit, both in the descent of a particular character into corruption and just in general great quality of the show.

In summary the first season was an 8 for me and the second season a 10 so I landed on 9 for the series grade. Too bad they didn't go for more seasons but they went out on top quality which is rare, so thanks to all involved.

Matthew Lilliard makes this series worth watching. Not since the character Jeff Spiccoli has there been a more hilarious druggie. Aside from the tons of humor created by Lilliard, the story itself is riveting and gives a close-up look at Mexican cartels and American corruption. The many death scenes are not for the weak-minded, reminding one of Criminal Minds (but not as weird).

While in the original TV series Sofia Helin gives an outstanding, sometimes funny, always compelling portrait of a police detective challenged with Asperger syndrome, her US counterpart takes out most of the fun by making her personality quite unbelievable.

The same goes for Demian Bichir. His complex character of the Danish Cop in personal troubles becomes the caricature of Latino clichés similar to the perception the US has about their southern neighbor as a whole.

The crisp design of this former superb Scandinavian TV series turns into a the the kind of blunt, boring, mediocre, dark mash of cop series that swamp TV sets world wide.

If you have the possibility, see the superb original to appreciate what TV can do.

SPOILER: Being intimately familiar with Asperger Syndrome (AS), I think it would be extremely difficult for an actor to play. Kruger did a reasonably good job in the first episode and I think that's actually why some people were turned off by her performance; AS is often characterized by the flat affect that she is exhibiting and it doesn't make for the kind of dynamic character that people are usually drawn to.

This show should spark a lot of discussion and raise awareness of AS. The plot piqued my interest and I'll definitely continue to watch.

(Note to director: Shot of victim's eyes fading into headlights was cool!)