Les Meurtres zen

Unexpectedly, I enjoyed this series a lot.

Excellent acting, script, directing, production value. There were some pretty big plot holes, however, but they could be overlooked for the overall engrossing story.

I love that the conceit of the series uses the popularity of mindful meditation in Germany, with many people practicing it during commutes and at work.

The Netflix series is based on a series of novel - and both share the same name - that has a different protagonist and a completely different plot.

In the TV series the main character is a lawyer involved in murders. In the novels the main character is a mindfulness coach solving murders.

Which is better? I don't know, because I have never read the novels. But I do like the TV series.

I recommend watching this in German with subtitles.

Murder Mindfully (German Language): Achtsam Morden. Netflix 2024 Unassuming Lawyer Bjorn, struggle with pressure, failing marriage, not seeing his daughter enough, guilt over representing local gangland boss etc.

What does he do to resolve this problems he seeks spiritual guidance.

After attending a course of "mindfulness" his life turns around for the better, with added complications,

If you consider Break Bad as the premise these types of programmes you'll get the idea.

It is thoroughly entertaining and very watchable and worth 4 hours of anyone times (8x1/2 episodes)

The only spoiler I will give, I think the maker have left it open to enable a second series, which it does warrant.

Oof. I really enjoyed this series but there are so many plot conveniences that become harder and harder to ignore as the series progresses. Smart people become stupid when it's convenient, dumb people become smart when it's convenient, you'll be watching the show going "oh this is clever how they set this up how are they going to sort this out" then the writing just half asses the hell out of it... It's kind of funny really.

I'm in Canada watching the English dub and at first I thought maybe something was getting lost in translation but it became pretty obvious that was not the case towards the end.

Honestly I really enjoyed the show, more than a lot of other shows I've watched recently. It IS entertaining but if you watch it you'll see exactly what I mean.

This is an 8-ep, 30 mins each, dark comedy thriller that has steadily been gaining some popularity by word of mouth. Call it a...'breezy' crime thriller; which doesn't make sense, because you'd use 'breezy' for something lighthearted and not for shows/films about murder but here we are.

The protagonist is an overworked, undervalued employee at a law firm whose life is beginning to fall apart, and his asks him to sign up for a series of classes on Mindfulness. As expected, he's totally against, as he calls it, 'such BS' but as the plot goes on, he buys into the idea of mindfulness to get rid of his 'problems' in life. Can't reveal anything more without getting into spoilers.

As he attends these classes, you hear everything you've seen/heard/practiced on mindfulness. The writing is so well done that you're likely to take deep breaths and follow along with the class instructor. Wh...how?

While the show isn't mind-blowing, in fact, one may even find several flaws, but if you're looking for something quick and different to watch, I'd totally recommend this show on Netflix. It's surely worth a watch.

Imagine you are a lawyer who can't find proper work-family balance, who gets no respect at work, is mistreated by his clients and whose family is falling apart. Would you go to a class that teaches you how to be mindful, how to live in the now, how to reduce stress? Yes? Well, that's what our hero does, albeit reluctantly at first.

And it helps, it truly does! He uses his newly learned skills to deal with dead bodies, suspicious mafia lieutenants, rival crime bosses, police.... And at home, with his family.

There are some plot holes in terms of how his actions play out, how others treat him and the like, but if you take the series as a comedy operating on comedic rules that don't always correspond with real life rules this is a funny series worth your time. Bite sized length episodes help in that each subplot doesn't drag out too much.