De Ridder

I have to admit that I didn't know of this Belgian series before I found it at a local shop here in the Netherlands. As I was curious and the cover and text on the packaging convinced me that this could in fact be an interesting series, I bought series 1. After watching a few episodes it was clear to me that the acting was on a very high level, the locations well picked and the stories and main storyline (through all episodes) were very convincing. The actress playing the main character Helena de Ridder (Clara Cleymans) is really very good and - not unimportant - real eye candy. I liked season 1 very much and even before I finished watching it, I found season 2 in my local shop. At this moment I've already watched that season. The quality remains on a very high level and makes me really want to see the third season. Unfortunately it will take a year or more before it will be on DVD as it still has to be produced. It's my favourite Belgian series so far. I can really recommend it to everyone that loves a well plotted crime series with good acting situated in the beautiful city of Ghent.

The characters act very well. The protagonist, a young woman, gives up a lucrative career as a lawyer to become a public prosecutor. She wants to make a difference and fight crime, rather than setting criminals free.

She gets in difficult situations, sometimes there is a dilemma whether to do what is right or what seems the best thing to do.

Great writing, very good production and excellent cast. There's magic with De Ridder and El Zarkaoui, but every character in this series is well-written and well executed. If there's one point of critique it's probably that the characters of Yves Bracke and Jan Ravenakkers go through a strange transformation.

The view from a public prosecutors office is also very unique in this genre and I appreciate it very much. Too bad they stopped at 4 seasons, this could have easily continued for many more.

Hands down one of my favourite Belgian fiction series.

Helene de Ridder is a bright and young state attorney working in the court house of the beautiful Flemish-Belgian city of Gent. In each seasons she is working on a huge conspiracy case, which is the general theme of the season, but in each episode she also solves everyday cases with juvenile hooligans, thieves, suicide and other not-to-high profile issues. This is an absolutely superb series, a bit similar to the great Scandinavian crime movies, but with a very strong Flemish accent. Since Helena is young and chic and cool, the soundtrack is also upcoming cool Belgian music selected for each season. All the main characters are complex, very well-written, and even better acted. Clara Cleymans would be a superstar in Hollywood, and the other female characters are greatly acted. The main male characters, the contentious Yves Brecke (Michael Pas), the top lawyer Jan Ravenakkers (Lucas Van den Eynde) and the slightly nerd investigating judge Boudewijn Van Der Zeypen (Dirk van Dijck) are very realistic characters driven by a lot of craziness, evil and good intentions. I think this is a truly excellent television drama and also gives a very interesting insight into contemporary Belgium.

Beautiful to see the city i live in a diffrent way/spotlight!