Salamander

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.

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.

Never having encountered Belgian TV before, my expectations were modest. This starts as a cop show but quickly develops into a political/power drama with more than a touch of edge to it. Characters are allowed to develop, the acting is realistic, shooting is stylish, it has drama, baddies, an occasional chase and some small gunfire - a central angle is how can the lone good guy succeed against the big baddie machine?

Its a bit different from the run of the mill, reasonable production values, quality acting, different faces (maybe not for a Belgian audience?) Euro feel - its pulled me in.

Its being shown on BBC 2 episodes at a time, now after 10 from 12 I can't wait for the finale - got a feeling the hero will survive, not so sure about those he cares for.

Ran across this series on Netflix, and was surprised when I turned it on and heard the sounds of the Flemish language, which I know well from my many years living in Belgium and the Netherlands. My experience with the country made this show especially interesting for me, since Belgium actually is a bit of a cauldron of political tensions and conspiracy theories. A horrific pedophile scandal involving government officials and including the deaths of some young girls tore the country apart in the 1990s, and I'm not sure they have ever recovered.

Apart from that, it's a fairly typical lone-cop-against-conspirators story, but with a bit more European subtlety and flair than American equivalents like "24" and "Scandal." It's pretty well-paced and certainly held my attention for its 12 episodes. I have mixed feelings about Filip Peeters in the lead role - he seemed to have the same bewildered expression on his face most of the time - but this series is more story than character driven. It's certainly worth your time as a change of venue from the usual thriller.