Unité 42

The ratings here are too low, I'm guessing because a lot of people don't like subtitles and want dubbing. But this is a fine series, well written, produced, and acted-and serious viewers want to hear the language and the actors' voices. My reservation is that in crime procedurals the victims are so often women, and they never seem to have a security system, dog, or at least mace. It's just maddening. And why are pictures of naked women on the walls where they eat. I get that they're special ops in a basement, but come on. But, despite rather stupid production gaffes, this is a good show with a lot of strengths and surprising moments of tenderness.

Recommended.

This reminded me of shows from the 70s, 80s or 90s. Each episode is an individual case which is solved in the end and then you start again in the next episode. Despite good performances and decent dialogue it's all a little to neat and formulaic. Saying that, it is watchable and requires no commitment from the viewer so you can watch a single episode and walk away without feeling that you're missing something.

This Belgian series is set in Brussels and each episode involves investigations into various crimes where computers are involved in some way. Our main protagonists are Inspector Sam Leroy, a widower with three children, who has recently transferred to the unit and Billie Vebber, a young former hacker who now works as a police officer. Most cases involve murders where Billie's skills are required, sometimes involving bending of the rules.

I really enjoyed this series; unlike most series these days the main plot in each episode is resolved within that episode. It still makes sense to watch every episode in the correct order as there is some character development which takes place over the course of the series. Some events may disturb some viewers; most obviously a case where child abusers are targeted and we learn some details, obviously not too many, about what happened to one child. The cast, both regulars and guests, do a solid job bringing their characters to life. While some of the computer elements are not too believable they are certainly better than many programmes and films which deal with the subject. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to fans of crime dramas. Hopefully we won't have to wait too long for Netflix to get the second season.

These comments are based on watching the series in French with English subtitles.

I am on the third episode, and I feel I should be enjoying this more than I am. It has so much going for it. Patrick Ridremont was terrific in En Immersion and La Foret and is good again here; and sometimes it is welcome to have an anthology series, which I sometimes like to watch after watching 8 or 10 episode serials with a demanding, continuous story arc. It has good, edgy storylines; it has well-written dialogue (I have enough French to be able to understand a lot of it in the original with subtitles helping me along with the rest). The problem, for me, is with the editing. During Episode 1, I replayed a 10-minute segment I had just watched, and the longest any single shot was held was 6 seconds - most of the cuts came much more quickly than that. There is therefore a relentlessly manic quality in the way the final product is put together. I think this is possibly intended to mirror in some way the contemporary, unstable, high-tech, high-speed world that the investigators work in, but, for me, it makes it quite hard to watch and retain concentration

Really enjoyed this show. Characters are fun to watch, stories are good, and the additional stories are intriguing. Please make more seasons as there is a LOT of potential in this.