Pandore

I watched the first season. And the first episodes were quite okay and really watchable, but later on some parts/story lines were really ridiculously implausible. Too bad, could have been so much better. Ten episodes in this case is too much I think. If they would have kept focussed on the main story lines and left out all the ridiculously unbelievable parts, it would have fitted in 6 episodes, in my opinion. And that would have made it much more balanced and believable.

I don't know yet if I will watch the second season to find out whether some unsolved issues of season 1 will be solved after all.

This Belgian series deals with how the judicial system handles serious cases. The concept is one of an incident that opens a Pandora's Box of secrets and interactions. The problem with it is that it appears to lack detail and along the way, one can see mistakes being made in police process. The casting is a bit ludicrous in that the actress who plays the lead character of the judge, looks almost as old as the actors playing her parents. Surely this could have been done in a better way! The role of the police captain is played by someone well beyond retirement age. This really stretches viewers' belief as it would lack credibility. The audio quality, as in many of the French and Belgian productions, is poor, and most of the dialog comes across as muffled. Better sound engineers would have resolved that issue. As with all Francophone series there are recurrent themes of bouts of histrionic acting, anxiety attacks, constant reference to people being "fragile", and the usual older women younger men dynamic! However, it's a bit of fantasy, as it is impossible to believe that any judicial system could function in this way.

Shakespeare would have been proud of this. The story line moves across several concepts, nicely up to date. Even the introductory music and cartoons are clever. But it is the way each idea gets examined or tested and, moreover, the timing of each piece of action that is impressive.

The two main characters sink steadily in their respective lives, one obsessively following her instinct and ruining her career in the process; the other toughing out increasing missteps but losing a family.

On top, throughout, there is the fight for freedom for females from male misbehaviour. This is shown in a number of ways throughout the show. And, understated, low-grade political ineptness bordering on corruption.

At the beginning, an offender is freed and one wonders if the victim will be further attacked - move on! Punches are neither pulled nor glorified: a horrific moment is marvellously shown "endlessly" in the rear view mirror of a car; the beautiful assistant in love with the politician describes her possible future.

I do agree with another commentator that the "rescuing a girl in jail" by pressuring a Saudi Prince is totally unbelievable - ridiculous - the writers should have found another way.

I was really liking this but started getting frustrated about plots and characters that were simply dropped. One of the attackers that Judge Delval was pursuing had been released because of a conspiracy of silence. When she found evidence to convict, the whole thing was dropped, we didn't see an arrest or a trial. I actually wonder if the programmes were an hour long and had been chopped down to forty five minutes to fit schedules. There were several occasions when the action cut to a different scene but the previous characters were clearly going to say something to each other.

I didn't believe in Sasha's sudden employment in the media industry or later in politics either. Her part in the negotiations with the KSA was pretty ridiculous - as a newbie, she would never have had the connections to put the arrogant prince in his place.

Of the ten épisodes, number eight dragged and added little to the plot. The final two were not really believable. The actions didn't fit the personality of the judge and I found her obsession wearying. Neither did I think her statement in the corruption trial was credible. She was, after all, the judge who'd got the defendants summonsed.

I enjoyed this, but there were such serious flaws that I can't give more than six stars.

Pandora (Pandore in French), is a surprisingly engaging Belgian political/police procedural. At its core the series explores how its characters react after the gang rape of a female political activist.

The namesake of the show, Pandora, was the woman in Greek mythology who unleashed sin, evil and chaos on the world. In keeping with that theme, the show centers around the many lies, ethical lapses and misdeeds that even good people make when they are stressed, overwhelmed and fearful of failure.

The acting is good, the characters are three-dimensional, and the dialogue is very well written. Plus, it offers a nice look at the European criminal justice system, in which "judges" go out and investigate the crime, and oversee the collection of evidence. I was pleased to see that the show has already been greenlighted for a second season, which should be in 2024. If you like detective dramas, give this one a try.