Blindspår

I loved the book by Anne Holt and looked forward to watch the serie version together with my wife.

In fact, since this was an adoption of just one of the many books with the main charecter, I hoped this would be the start on many seasons.

My hopes were high for this serie as I saw there were some good actors in it too, and the director had made good stuff earlier. But this production unfortunately just does not work well. For some reason, the indoor scenes gave me a made-for-TV feeling of a low budget soap opera production. I don't know if it was the camera/lens that was used, the color grading, camera angles, directions or a combination of it all. The acting and script also gave med soap opera feeling. Even from the good actors I respect. To the Norwegian readers, I can tell that it looked to me like they had used the exact same team as were making the soap opera "Hotel Ceasar".

But to be fair, my wife enjoyed the series, so if you can look beyond my objections, it may be worth while entertainment.

As someone else mentioned this was a sort of take on an Agatha Christie novel although completely reworked and changed but none the worse for that.

Part of the story was told in flashbacks to explain the events of the present.

I never felt bored during the four episodes and wanted to know exactly what would happen in the next one. Although I was enjoying myself, I certainly didn't think the story should have been longer; the four were an ideal length.

Once more, as in so many Swedish thrillers, SAPO is shown to be immoral and ruthless, the opposite of the impression Sweden likes to portray of itself to the world.

Character development was superficial but sufficient. The actors and actresses were competent. The story gripped. What's not to like?

There's bad television, and then there's whatever this was-a crime drama so uninspired it barely deserves the genre label. The plot? Predictable to the point of parody. The characters? Carbon copies of every tired trope, spouting dialogue so lifeless you could see the actors losing interest mid-scene. Even the so-called twists felt like they were pulled from a random generator of clichés-corrupt cops, a framed protagonist, and a villain who conveniently monologues his entire plan.

The pacing was as erratic as the script's logic, dragging through endless exposition before sprinting through resolutions that made no sense. The visuals? A dull, washed-out imitation of better shows, with lighting so moody it felt like they were hiding the set's mediocrity.

If crime TV is supposed to be gripping, this was the opposite: a slow-motion car crash where no one even bothers to get out of the vehicle. Lazy, forgettable, and utterly devoid of tension, it's the kind of show that insults its audience.

1/10. Avoid at all costs.

What is meant to be an Agatha Christie inspired series, falls so flat on its face it turns into an avalanche of mediocre filmmaking. Only the VFX work is somewhat tolerable, the rest is just plain awful. The writing, directing and overall production design feels amateurish and akward. There is never a tense or suepenful moment, the characters all act without any truth or interest. Whoever felt this script was good enough to be put into production should be the sent to the same hotel by themselves.

Based on a book by Anne Holt, which must have been far superior than its adaption, never gets of the slope.

If the aim was a nod to Knives Out or such references, please beware - it's not!