Arne Dahl: En midsommarnattsdröm

Taking its title from Shakespeare's play (although the relevance to the story escapes me), A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM is a complicated tale involving the pursuit of a Polish heavy (Andrzej Chyra) who has been associated with a series of murders of other Polish immigrants. However the story isn't as straightforward as it first seems ...

This Swedish detective series contains some formulaic elements. The central character Arne Dahl (Malin Arvidsson) is a divorced single parent looking for love but failing to find it. In her team of crack officers there is the obligatory heavy (Magnus Samuelsson) with a penchant for black humor; the silver-haired lawyer who solves cases through intellectual rather than physical means (Niklas Åkerfelt); and the maverick cop going off the rails but redeemed through his aptitude for the job (Alexander Salzberger). Oh, and we must not forget the rookie who turns out to be a little big for her boots, initially skeptically received by her fellow-officers but eventually proving herself through sheer, if rather foolhardy bravery (Natalie Minnevik).

Trygve Allister Diesen's production remains resolutely low-key throughout; shot in dark colors in claustrophobic interiors, it portrays Stockholm and other Swedish cities as crime-ridden and full of menace. No one, it seems, is immune from corruption.

After watching all of johan falck,I figured this could be an interesting continuing on Swedish series. Sadly this is one big snooze fest.

The cops act like fumbling idiots,and they are supposed to be some form of pro.elite squad of detectives,but you have no faith in them whatsoever.

They even start fooling around within the group,.I mean really?? You gonna have a cop show with office romance,and expect us to take it seriously. My biggest problem with the show is: The pace,the storyline,the acting,the stereo types,the line delivery.

Conclusion,Go watch Johan Falck instead

I have enjoyed the previous series of this Swedish police procedural which focuses on the cases and private lives of a special unit of disparate detectives called into action for particularly unusual and invariably nasty crimes. I was therefore pleased to see a new series appear on TV and hoped that this introductory episode would be up to the standard of previous ones.

Unfortunately, I don't think it was. For one thing the team is different, with the old female boss now replaced by the promoted Kerstin Holm who just happens to be sleeping with now ex-member of the team, divorcée Paul Heim who's now moved onto Internal Affairs of all things. No prizes for guessing that his first assignment involves checking up on one of his former colleagues. There's also a new arrival in the form of an even younger female detective, Ida, keen to earn her spurs which means naturally she puts herself in harm's way on her own the first chance she gets. Oh and the maverick Chavez has been apparently replaced with a new actor altogether but none of his super detective chums seems to have noticed. The meat of the plot takes in the tracking down and ritual slaughtering of a group of young Polish girls by the equivalent of the Polish Mafia. The sub-plots involve the travails of the new Chavez and his propensity for going off the rails, the on-off relationship between Heim and Holm and for some light relief the banter between Heim and his new, gobby P.A.

While I enjoyed initially seeing (some of) the familiar faces again, this adventure failed to really hold my attention like before. The young new recruit I didn't really buy into and ditto Kerstin as the new group leader who just doesn't exude leadership qualities at all. The two-parter was extended beyond its apparently natural conclusion with a tagged-on seeming twist in the tale which again failed to excite or intrigue.

I hope the standard improves but I'm afraid on first viewing everything here just looked a bit second-hand and overdone, the writing, direction and acting. And no, I didn't pick up on the Shakespearean reference in the title either.

I have enjoyed many Scandinavian crime and police drama's over the years and especially those on Four. I must say I wasn't expecting this second season to be as big a let down as it was throughout all the episodes I have seen (Ep 1-6)

Maybe I have been spoilt with the quality of other Scandinavian shows but this second season certainly doesn't reach that high quality I have come to expect.

As mentioned the show is very formulaic and almost 'dumbed down'.. It seems rather than try to emulate its previous season or it's peers this season is just copying the standard US approach to their 'cop shows'

There is a lot I don't like about this season but as I say I am comparing the show to what has come before rather than this type or genre of show generally.

Don't misunderstand I am by no means saying its poor just that it falls into the average type cop show.

I find myself more irritated by some aspects of this particular season than I ever have been with any other Scandinavian police or crime drama especially the characters and most notably the young new novice now part of the 'A Team' and her story lines.

There is so much more potential to this show but either the writers and/or the makers are too lazy to realize that potential or maybe they are trying to reach a new demographic who prefer this level of show... if the latter is true that might explain the inclusion of this new character and her overly played story lines in every episode so far.

IMHO if you enjoy the usual type of Scandinavian police or Crime shows like Wallander, The Bridge, The Killing etc then this will disappoint. If you are looking for a more generic type US cop show then you wont be disappointed.