Salamander

Recent decade has seen so vast accrual of UK and Scandinavian crime thrillers, including political ones, that those coming from other European countries have often remained in the shadow. Being a fan of "modern" crimes series (i.e. without episode-based case settlements), I have tried to broaden my mind; thanks to Internet and IMDb, it is far easier than decades ago.

Based on some previous knowledge about Salamander, I was surprised at first as the first 1-2 episodes were rather slow and amply sentimental, although some events aside could create more robust and fixed approach. But then the characters and scenes became nicely fit for a crime thriller and the inclusion of past events made the storyline more versatile and with interesting twists. Both adversaries had their ups and downs and casualties, and even if you could guess some things happening next, there was still plenty of space for surprises. Beautiful urban and rural landscapes formed a nice background to otherwise nasty or sad events.

As for the performances, the males were more convincing and significant, particularly Filip Peeters as Paul Gerardi and Jo De Meyere as Armand Persigal; I have to admit that it was my first aware familiarisation with Belgian/Flemish actors. I will look forward to meet them again, eventually in another similar creation.

It's a good premise for a television drama serial: that Belgium is in the grip of a secret society, a hybrid of the fascists and the Freemasons, crossing all walks of life. It's an especially powerful idea in Belgium because that country has relatively week political parties and perpetual coalition; which makes the idea that real power lies elsewhere especially effective. Then you have a standard thriller set up, with the honest cop, various people in the government trading off their own interests and instincts in different ways, the society's members (and they have their own internal power struggles), and finally a mysterious gang of bank robbers with a hidden agenda of their own. Taken as a whole, it's preposterous, as all such dramas are, but it's also fast-paced, well-acted and cleverly plotted. Three quibbles: why would a group of senior public figures keep evidence incriminating themselves in a bank, instead of just destroying it? Isn't money the true power in our society anyway? And while the Salamander organisation seems to be reasonably good at getting people killed, we don't see any evidence of it actually achieving anything else; for a supposed group of all-powerful people, they seem to spend the entire story on the defensive. But it's still gripping stuff, and thankfully avoids the "psychopathic genius" nonsense that spoils a lot of similar work.

One of the great benefits of streaming services is that the delve into the output from Europe and elsewhere and unearth some gems like this one. This is the story of someone trying to uncover and stop the plans of a secret society (not a Vincent Price/Hammer Horror style one) who are interfering in politics and the government.

Apart from good writing and filming, it gives us the opportunity here in the UK to see some new actors and many of them put the usual lot to shame with their acting ability. I don't know if it is common outside of the UK and America, but there is a tendency these days to give parts to ex comedians and other entertainers who for some unknown reason, think they can act. See Alan Davis for an example. Instead here we have people who have learned their craft and can deliver the story.

There are two series under this heading. The first one is the best in my opinion but the second is still worth watching.

Selected by BBC4 to replace the Saturday night spot traditionally taken by moody, brooding Nordic Noir series like "The Killing" and most recently "The Bridge", this Flemish cop-drama is very different in tone, but entertaining for all that.

I'm about three episodes in and while the plot lacks the darker undertones of its Scandinavian predecessors and there's far less character development too, both these aspects are commendable in my eyes in avoiding over-complexity in the plotting and the sometimes overdone quirkiness and personal problems of the main characters.

The central character interest is a transparently big, bluff everyday senior detective in the Belgian police, Paul Gerardi, who finds himself involved in sinister machinations when an underworld source tells him a major private bank has been broken into and yet has chosen not to report it to the police and indeed actively tries to cover up any sign of the break-in. Moreover, the robbery didn't involve money or bullion but rather the personal effects of some 66 highly connected individuals in Belgian society. Naturally, there's a malevolent, powerful network behind all this who will stop at nothing it appears to maintain the secret and who wish to silence Gerardi from bringing the matter to light.

Pacily filmed, more in daylight than the dark, I rather like the fact that it's more about the story than the characters' hang-ups although the latter may yet be invoked to pad out the next nine episodes but I'm hoping instead on a twisty-turny roller-coaster ride as Gerardi presumably avoids capture, finds out more about the mysterious "Salamander" group and their aims and the motives of the only scarcely glimpsed gang-leader behind the initial theft.

While I don't expect my insides turned outside-in, I am looking forward to enjoying the rest of this so far entertaining and involving production.

This is what is going on in all the West and has been in the East for decades--organizations of corporations determining policy and human history. It's difficult to watch because you realize we are here and there is no turning back. As far as the show is concerned, the only lame part is that in REAL life the bad guys rarely get found out and even if they do, they are covered by other countries/friends in high places who bail them with more lies and stories. Besides, the general populace has a short memory. We are so pummeled with news stories that we forget things we heard 2 days ago. I think Big Brother was always depending on that. Keep the general public happy playing with their toys and eating their junk foods and we won't have any problems with them.