Lost Luggage

A group of cops sort through the left luggage at Brussels International Airport after the terrorist attack of 3/23/2016. They also seem to feel the need to console surviving victims and victims' families. To avoid any blame game against Muslims, the leading investigator is Samira, a Muslim herself. Actually this short synopsis sounds more interesting than the obviously cheaply produced series, which is not much better than the average soap.

I found this mini-series very touching. Warm. Very human side stories, the importance and the meaning of little details, memories. The many different difficult consequences of and amidst these terrorist attacks. A tribute to first aid and security workers serving people and the impact on them too, no matter how strong. Respect for some great acting, especially the main actress Lara Chedraoui (her first leading role)! Nice how the story has a heart for the people in Belgium with Arabic and Maghreb roots who were also affected and victims, just as the other Belgian and international people affected. Bombs don't discriminate. This is about human beings. Made with love.

Having polished off the Danish series "When the Dust Settles" which is an absolutely superb drama set post a terrorism event, I was somewhat cautious about taking on the same topic so soon, especially as it would be hard for it to live up to such high expectations.

However "Lost Luggage" does not disappoint. As with the Danish series, the focus is barely about the bombers / terrorists themselves but instead about the ripple effects that permeate people's otherwise normal lives. Some become severely limited and others are totally lost.

My partner counsels people with PTSD and she verifies the accuracy of the paths people end up on and the portrayals in the show. Having never experienced PTSD myself, I feel as though I have a better grasp on what others might be going through.

At first it felt like the series might be partitioned into separate stories, however half way through there is more connection and inter-weaving plot lines, all backed by a fantastic cast.

You can't ask much more from a series than what this one delivers. :)

This one is a thank you for all the people out there during and after the attacks at BAZ and Maalbeek. It's a bit dramatized and incomplete, but that's okay. This isn't the story of what happened, nor who is to blame. The choice of a Muslim main character may very well have been to show not all Muslims are behind the attack, but it doesn't bother me. She isn't portrayed as a Muslim, for all we know she isn't even practicing. It's not about religion. People of all religions were helping out when it happened.

This story is about "us", the ones who were there that day and the following days. Who saw those first-line victims running away from the airport, listening to their stories about the attacks. Helping them to find their stuff, or their way home. They were the first to tell us something was going on, and we were unkowingly their first contact after it happened.

I was working in a nearby trainstation that day, and to me, this series captures the way we felt and still feel when meeting people who were at the Airport or Maalbeek that day. Some of us ran off, others stayed and tried to help where we could, each on his own level, with what possibilities we had. It's an honest portrait. This is an appreciation for all of us who have been in similar situations, trying to help.