Flikken

It's a popular show here, which I really don't understand! It's produced by our national tv station (VRT), and I hope they don't think they have made something exeptional. It looks there's only a handfull of actors and actresses in this country. In every show, you see the same faces. I still think there are some good actors here, but it seems to me, that their talent is reduced by the director(s)! Most of the episodes lack a good story and tempo! But what bothers me the most is actress??, Andrea Cronenberg. Her acting and dialoges are so forced, and I hope she doesn't think she can sing. Two other shows that were shown on TV here, were of much better quality."Niet voor publicatie" and "Terug naar Oosterdonk".

"Flikken" is a Flemish cop television show. You can compare it with NYPD blue, except from the fact that Andy Scipowitz is far more better in playing his role than Andrea Croonenberghs does. She doesn't have the famous 'x-factor for actresses' although she tries very hard to cover it. She's nothing compared to great Belgian actresses as Jenny Thanghe, Dora Vandergroen and Chris Lomme. She's even nothing compared to younger actresses as Ann Ceurvels, Francesca Vanthielen, Joke Devinck etc...

She is however not the only one who, in my opinion can't act. Truth spoken, Rebecca Huls is even worse than Andrea is.

What I do like about the show, is that the civil life of a Flemish person is pretty good described. There are no superheroes among the 'flikken'-team, the show also shows kind of a psychological profile of its members (what was kind of new in such a Belgian production) and the chemistry between Pasmans and Raymond is very good, often hilarious in the beginning of the show.

When the show started to get boring, the characters predictable, they gave the role of chief (every season they changed the person) to Jo De Meyere, who already showed he was outstanding in such a role (Heterdaad). The introduction of Nauwelaerts (De Meyere) and the replacement of Daeseleire by Desmedt gave the show a new elan. De Meyere is like I stated in the title the finest actor Flemish television has ever known.

This is a great cop-show: The story lines are good. It's not just about murder or rape. And it doesn't have an spectacular car-chase every episode, like some shows. It's more realistic. They also have to solve burglaries, shoplifting, assault, stalking, vandalism etc, etc., like real cops have to do. You also get to know more and more about the background of the characters. Almost all the actors are fabulous (some of them look good as well!-But they aren't models) and last but not least it has humour. In short: It's just fun!!

I watched the entire series and was captivated all the way through. The stories are good, and the character development throughout the series excellent. You felt that you really got to know the individual characters . I'm sure many viewers at the time when the series were aired thoroughly enjoyed them. Well done, I'm sorry there were only 10 seasons of this.

It takes a while to settle down in the first couple of series, which are a bit like a Flemish 'Hill Street Blues', but it picks up later and by series 5 has some very good script writing and acting. Series 5 has a long plot over several episodes, so a good watch if you are housebound! It is all in Dutch (Flemish dialect) with no English subtitles available as far as I know (at least not on the YouTube versions).