Le meilleur d'entre nous

The scenery and the photography were stunning. The story is complicated and tender. I loved the actors, especially the lead (Mariama Gueye) and the innkeeper (Gauthier Battoue). Just finished watching it for the second time. I wish there was a second season.

There were many things in this show that were new to me. The show is filmed in a village that would seem a dream village to most of us. The training of the athletes (skiing and shooting) is amazing.

I have been watching French detective shows and I find them, for the most part, intelligent and well-made. The art of subtitles has improved dramatically over the last few decades.

The lead is compelling and interesting, and the scenery gorgeous - but the story is made overly long - working its way through each suspect one by one, then discarding them. Characters are introduced for no other reason than to draw out the episode, and then they go nowhere or disappear because they are irrelevant. The ending is incredibly rushed and feels like it was tacked on for drama. It wasn't needed. But, the lead kept me interested. She capably balanced the tough professional and the more vulnerable personal side, without being cliche. The romantic angle was thin, but I guess every show has to have that now. The guy was cute, so whatever. Would have really liked to see more interaction between her and the judge - it sparked and showed some real human connection and humor.

The first few minutes of the first episode showed promise as we learn that Inspector Awa is struggling with the aftermath of her brother's unsolved death as she gets called to a ski resort to investigate the death of a popular athlete. But the writing became dull and slow as the plot progressed. There was a list of possible suspects, each with their own motivations but very little character development. The reveal of the killer felt clunky and unoriginal. The last 5 minutes of the show wrap up the main plot before we're dashed into a completely different and rushed finale to a plot involving the lead's relative. In short, the writers cramped with should have been at least 2 more episodes into 4 clunky, confusing and frustrating episodes. The acting was subpar but the production does gain a few points for the gorgeous French alpine scenery. This series was a big disappointment.

This is your typical French series, complete with a lot of shouting, histrionic acting, where every character is deemed to be " fragile" or in "shock. The story unfolds slowly and actually appears to be very drawn out. It could have been told in two episodes, it did not need four. The subplots around the detective's life contributed little to the main story. The real star of the series is the gorgeous alpine scenery which is breathtakingly beautiful. There are some moments of French comedic dialogue in the script, but it just does not translate well enough to cross cultural lines. Overall, it's a weak series that's just too contrived and drawn out.

This mini-series held the attention throughout due to its compact format of four episodes of forty eight minutes each. There are two strands, a personal one and an investigative one. In the former, Awa Sissako is grappling with feelings of loss after the unsolved murder of her younger brother. The second one charts her course towards solving several crimes that have taken place in Bessans that the investigating judge wants wrapped up before the biathlon championships.

This series was easy on the eye with attractive and competent actors and plotlines that, although fantastical, could be guessed at - I worked out whodunit before the end. I'd also worked out some of the subplots too that were germane to the murders. I'm a pretty hopeless detective, but this series had logic and clues without being simple.

I watched all four episodes within a day and really enjoyed the story, acting and scenery. Recommended.