L'ancien combat

Couldn't stop watching the first 4 episodes but the last 2 and especially the ending is disappointing. Still worth watching though, as long as one doesn't mind the story getting thinner...

This series had LOADS of potential.. truly.. and started off really well... Then it just drops off and fills up with countless cliche's I suppose to try and attract a wider audience..

The writers really dropped the ball here.. and I think that stem's from perhaps writing material without any true basic understanding of it.. Lots of very far fetch and frankly nonsensical situations transpire after around 3rd episode that by the 5th I felt I had been insulted enough and just removed it from my library at home... and I REALLY like that lead actor.. alot... I just wish they would have had a better grasp on what they were writing about..

This series takes place in Denmark and the dialogues are all in Danish. Therefre I don't it's easy to make comments on the quality of the actor's performances. Reading what the actors say and trying to match the subtitles to their faces is decidedly different from experiencing the performances, needless to say. However, the actors seem very talented. I can't say with certainty that the actors delivered good performances, but they did at least seem to be acting well. The characters themselves appeared quite interesting, and the show did seem very well-written. In one particularly emotionally striking scene that shows the series' potential as a drama, the widowed detective's child asks his deceased father's commanding officer if he gave the order that got the boy's father killed. The officer replies only "yes," but the tears in his eyes and pained expression on his face tell an entire story of tragedy and loss.

A simple story, typical the good cop vs the bad ruthless drug traffic dealer, chapters are gripping and intense. Main character a war veteran playing an undercover crook playing in the burrow of the bad guys. The end result a blend of an American action series with a Scandinavian noir. Ok but nothing else

The acting is overall good, as is the setting and camera-work. The story is serviceable and lends itself to some good moments of suspense. Action-sequences are good. My main concern is the atrocious dialogue and lack of character depth - Tom, the main villain is particularly two-dimensional (he's only missing a monocle) . I appreciate that there in all certainty excists coarse language between gangmembers, but the constant "danish f-bombs" wears really thin after 3 episodes - bad writing. Some of the police procedure seems extremely far-fetched or downright inconceivable, again - bad writing. Is every character in this series a raging alcoholic?

I may seem harsh; I want to like this but I can't help but compare it to "Sons of Anarchy", a much lengthier series, yes, but with both a much stronger characterisations and story.