Glacé

This French series in set in the Pyrenees Mountains; and opens with a strange case involving the killing and decapitation of a valuable horse. Captain Martin Servaz is put in charge of the case. The only clue is a hair found on the horse's head. There is a DNA match. This only raises more questions than answers as it came from Julian Alois Hirtmann, a man who is an inmate at a secure psychiatric facility... a man who Martin sent there for murdering a number of women. In the facility a young, woman doctor is keen to work with Hirtmann. Inevitably it isn't long before the first human victim is found. As the death toll rises Martin, and his partner, Irène Ziegler, work to link the victims to each other and to Hirtmann.

I found this to be a solid and enjoyably mystery. Many questions are posed and these are gradually answered as the series progresses. As seems common in these relatively short French mystery series it is set in a fairly remote, scenic corner of the country; the fact that it takes place in winter adds to the atmosphere. There is a good sense of tension and a few fairly shocking scenes, especially towards the end. The actual finale is perhaps a little predictable and appears to set things up for a second season although it looks like that won't happen given that it is a few years since this was made. The cast does a solid job bringing their characters to life. Overall a solid story despite a few clichés, I'd recommend it to fans of French crime dramas.

These comments are based on watching the series in French with English subtitles.

This series depicted spectacular winter scenery. I was also impressed with the quality of the actors, especially those who played the roles of Martin and Julian. However, the plot was overly complicated; there were too many strands that were not really connected to the plot and were not resolved satisfactorily. In addition, I was very disappointed with the ending - unless, they are planning a second season.

I watched this on netflix,The trailer is in english but every episode is in french,(I knew this was a French production, just confused by the trailer.) maybe that was the better option. The story starts 10 years after the original manhunt and successful capture of a serial killer who is at this point in time is in a psychiatric unit without hope of ever being released. After a grizzly discovery the detective who caught the serial killer is asked to join the new investigation and so starts this story. It's pretty good, but can get annoying like missing obvious suspects and clues that could be connected to the case at hand, which at times can become tedious and drawn out to get the point across to viewers. Most of the characters go through wimpy scenes with overplayed emotions that just get in the way, especially when reading subtitles that vanish in a blink of the eye in certain areas, so you miss a sentence as they last less than a second. As is the norm these days, the main protagonist has his personal demons and only functions using a full flask of alcohol and unlimited smokes including extreme nose bleeds from tension. The last episode is basically a race against time bringing the season to a full circle leaving an opening for a season 2.

We've got a series with a good plot, but (too many) weak sub plots. The acting is good overall, but weakened by the sub plots and the constant tissues in Servaz hand.

The filming, environment and atmosphere are above average. By the way, where are the French cars? What's with the Subaro and Volvo?! Not credible.

They thought they would get a second season, that never happened, hence the illogical behaviors in the finale and the bad ending!

My wife and I liked the first couple of episodes, but the last four were incredible slow-moving. Every detective series has to mix pure detective work with some personal background. The characters in this series have way too much personal baggage, which isn't very interesting. We were glad when it ended.