Modus

'The Killing' established a certain template for Scandinavian crime drama: dark, moody, intense, understated, and with a tough, and not conventionally feminine, leading female protagonist. The recipe was followed pretty much exactly in 'The Bridge'; and many of the same elements are also present in 'Modus'. But for my money, 'The Killing' was great because of brilliant acting (and occasionally writing), rather than because it unlocked inherently magic elements, and for me, 'Modus' falls a bit flat. It's one thing to tell a complex multi-part story of a criminal investigation, one which impacts upon the private lives of its characters; but it's another to make this into a cohesive story, one which makes intrinsic sense and makes the viewer care beyond the latest twist. And to my mind, any plot based upon the idea of the serial killer with the premeditated plan is at a disadvantage even before it starts. 'Modus' isn't awfully done, and maybe I'm just a bit Scandi'd out, but it certainly lacks the freshness that the first season of 'The Killing' such a success.

The police work is laughable, which is a shame as the production is quite good. There are so many times when we had to laugh at how ridiculous the plot was, how unlikely the events, the total lack of police and security in what is a major crime of global proportion. The oh so bad opening song gives you a taste of what's to come.

With the explosive blooming of Scandi Noir, this decade has seen several dozens of thrilling series where something bad is developed and solved/removed using suspense and uneasiness... Some concepts and approached are distinct, the others not, and even in a relatively big country like Sweden, there are many recurring actors-actresses having bigger or smaller roles in various thrillers, including here, that it takes some time to get used to it. Well, most performers are good at least, but in Modus, it often seemed that the leading characters or performances were more static and trivial that many supporting ones, Melinda Kinnaman and Henrik Norlén did not impress me too much.

As for the plot and it's entertainment level, Modus had a few twists only, and the basic reasons for the wrongdoer's actions were revealed too soon, with some excessive moralisation, and the gay topic was over- exploited in this context. The police work was oddly weak, the killer of foreign origin could easily advance openly, paving the way for protracted scenes and unnecessary cast. But still, the general atmosphere was OK - probably for those having some knowledge of Scandinavian way of living and attitudes; I can hardly imagine that the series in question could be an interesting fellow to viewers outside Nothern Europe.

So many good detective shows coming from Scandinavia -- this is not one of them. It's way too long for the minuscule plot, which has constant and weird holes throughout. The lead actress is absurdly bad -- she only seems to have three facial expressions, all of which are rather unpleasant. The southern American accents are ridiculously wrong. The lead character is supposed to be a brilliant profiler but she's lame beyond belief -- her comment when seeing a CEO with a portrait of his grandfather rather than his father in his office is that the man must love his grandfather more than his father -- um, right. Finally, the series ending is quite possibly the silliest and the most predictable in tv show history. The reason this monstrosity is worth two stars instead of one is that the two young girls who play the lead's daughters are excellent -- they totally upstage the adults. But that's not enough to waste so many hours of your life on sub-standard tv.

Every time I think they're pulling out of the silliness, they dive back in. It's a shame.