Category Archives: Forensics

2017, Abduction, Abuse of Women, Action sequences, Amazon Prime MHz Choice, Amnesia, Athletes, Bloody scenes, Corrupt policemen, Corrupt Politicians, Corruption, Could Be Hard To Watch, Detective, DO NOT MISS, Failed Romance, Forensics, Game hunting for humans, Gay theme, German, German Air Force, German Detectives, Homophobia, Journalist, Kidnapping, MHz Choice, Mother-son relations, Murder, Murder Investigation, Personal Betrayal, Serial Killer, Sex Scenes, Sex trafficking, Single Mother, Soccer, Suicide, Undercover police work, Upsetting ending, Violent

Tatort: Lindholm (2017)

From MHz Choice:

Lone wolf detective Charlotte Lindholm has an uncanny talent for solving crimes and fumbling all personal relationships.

MHz Choice ($7.99 per month in 2021) can be purchased directly or through Amazon Prime. From MHz Choice you can stream the 12 episodes of the only season available. Each episode lasts about 1.5 hours. German with English subtitles.

From Wikipedia:

Tatort (“Crime scene”) is a German language police procedural television series that has been running continuously since 1970 with some 30 feature-length episodes per year, which makes it the longest-running German TV drama. Developed by the German public service broadcasting organisation ARD for their channel Das Erste, it is unique in its approach, in that it is jointly produced by all of the organisation’s regional members as well as its partnering Austrian and Swiss national public-service broadcasters, whereby every regional station contributes a number of episodes to a common pool.

Charlotte Lindholm is a smart, determined, and courageous detective, as well as a single mother raising her young son. Throughout the episodes she will have many romantic relationships, none of which succeed.

Of the 12 episodes, number 10  “The Smooth Death”  is unsettling because the “bad guy” wins.  Sometimes in a series, one episode will have the evildoer win only to be followed by an episode in which justice prevails. Sadly, not so with this difficult episode.

Each episode is very tense and can be unnerving to watch. If that appeals to you, then

DO NOT MISS!

 

2018, Abduction, Abuse of Women, Amazon Prime, Amputation as revenge, Amputee, Bloody scenes, Boating, Bullying, Clever Plot, Conspiracy, Controlling personality, Corrupt policemen, Corrupt Politicians, Corruption, Could Be Hard To Watch, Creepy, Dancing, Dark, Dark family secrets, Disturbing Image, Dysfunctional Lives, Eccentric Detective, Ethical struggles, Explicit sexual discussion, False Accusations, False Imprisonment, Father-daughter relations, FBI, Flashbacks, Forensics, Frame someone for a crime, Friendship, Gory, Grim, Grisly, Hopeless Love, Jealousy, Kidnapping, Masturbation, Murder, Narcissist, Nuns, Occasional gore, Personal Betrayal, Police Corruption, Prostitute, Psychopath, Revenge, Ruthless Killer, Sex Scenes, Sexual Perversion, Sociopath, Strongly Discouraged, Suicide, Suspense, Unscrupulous drive to power, Upsetting ending, Violent, Well developed plot, Wrongful Arrest

Goliath Second Season 2 (2018)

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From Amazon Prime:

Billy McBride returns to criminal defense, taking on a grisly double murder case. His client is a 16-yearold boy, and Billy’s damn sure he’s innocent. Billy, Patty, and the team fervently build their case in the seedy underworld of Los Angeles. As the murders’ true culprits come to light, the implications reach as far as the mayoral race — and the city’s preeminent billionaire developer.

From Amazon Prime you can stream 4 seasons of this lawyer series.  This review is just for season 2 which consists of 8 episodes where each episode is roughly one hour.

Normally I am recommending films. Here, however, I am strongly warning you that this is a ugly season. For one example, the chief villain amputates limbs from people who offend him.  For another example, one of the chief’s underlings suffers from “eroticized childhood trauma”, in which he can only get sexual pleasure from watching someone sooth an amputated limb. Heard enough?

To further clinch my discouraging review,   although some of the criminals suffer their just punishments, several innocent people are falsely imprisoned or killed.  As a final nail in this season’s coffin is that I purposely reveal that the chief villains succeed gloriously in their crimes and are so clever that they escape prosecution.

On the positive side (really?) the plot, good acting, detailed clever deceptions, utter evil of the conspirators, and the interactions of multiple characters make the story grimly watchable.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!  STRONGLY DISCOURAGED!

2021, Accidental Death, Action sequences, Addiction, Black humor, Bloody scenes, Brother-Sister relations, Comedy, Cover-up, Defies Categorization, Drama, Eccentric cast of characters, Ethical struggles, Fist Fight, Forensics, Funeral Director, Hopeless Love, Murder, Murder Investigation, Must suspend disbelief, Netflix Streaming, Norwegian, Norwegian Comedy, Nudity, Outrageous Behavior, Plot twists, Police Investigation, Problematic Ending, Quirky, Small Town

Post Mortem: No One Dies In Skarnes (2021)

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From IMDB:

Live Hallangen is declared dead but hours later she suddenly wakes up with a sudden urge for blood. Meanwhile, her brother Odd tries to keep the family driven funeral home afloat.

From Netflix:

It’s just another average day in this small Norwegian town
until a young woman is found dead in a field. But things are not as they seem.

From Netflix you can stream 6 episodes of this Norwegian series. Each episode lasts about 44 minutes.

Categories such as comedy, drama, and thriller have been applied to this off-beat series.  If I tell you what the series is about, I am afraid you will not watch it.  Let me begin, therefore,  by saying that no matter the theme, this is NOT a vampire story.   More than any other characterization,  for me “comedy” rings true because it shows Live (pronounced Lee-Va ), her brother Odd, the policeman Reinert. and Dr. Sverre getting in deeper and deeper in their combined efforts to conceal the truth about them and the strange secret of the town of Skarnes while trying desperately to keep the chief of police, Judith, off their trail.  Some comedies such as this one are built on a succession of outrageous events. When was the last time you saw a completely clothed woman having a mud fist fight with a completely naked man with a plastic bag tied over his head?

Well done and well worth the watch.

 

2019, Acceptable for teenagers, Anti-Semitism, Attempted Rape, Attempted Suicide, Bloody scenes, Bullying, Career Competition, Conspiracy, Corrupt Military, Detective, Drama, Failing Marriage, Family Conflict, Father-son relations, Forensics, Jewish Culture, Mental Illness, Mild Torture, Military, Military Corruption, Military School, Mother-son relations, Murder by poison, Old-Fashioned, PBS Masterpiece Streaming, Police Politics, Portraiture, Possibly upsetting ending, Psychopath, Psychotic Attacks, Sadism, Self-harm, Spiritualist, Suspense, Vienna of 1900, Violent

Vienna Blood (2019)

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From PBS Streaming:

A student of Sigmund Freud and an Austrian detective team up to solve some of the most mysterious and deadly cases in early 1900s Vienna.

From PBS Masterpiece Streaming you can watch 6 episodes, each lasting about 45 minutes.  Each of the three stories encompasses 2 episodes.

Changes were happening in 1900s Vienna.   Oskar Reinhardt is an Austrian detective who, when the series begins, is used to old-school methods that can involve using violence against suspects.  Little by little he adapts to using the newer methods of Max Liebermann. Max is a doctor working in a hospital run by a bully that is fond of using electrotherapy.  Max, as a student of Sigmund Freud, is more attuned to using psychological methods for understanding and curing his patients.

One important theme is Vienna’s virulent  antisemitism.  Max is the eldest son of an observant Jewish family.  As a subplot, Max is engaged to one woman (a Jewess) but falls in love with one of his patients (a gentile) whom he cured using Freudian methods.

Oskar is in constant mourning over the death of his young daughter. As a result his wife has at least temporarily left him.

In each of the 3 murder cases, Oskar stands fast against the prejudices and rush to judgement of his superiors.  Similarly Max stands fast against the malpractice of his own superiors.

Be at least warned that the third story leaves a bitter taste in the mouth.

Old-fashioned and well-done drama.

2021, Arson, Attempted Murder, Bullying, Conspiracy, Controlling personality, Could Be Hard To Watch, Dark, Eccentric Detective, Failed Father, Family Conflict, Father-son relations, Fist Fight, Forensics, High school students, Israeli culture, Israeli Detective, Jealousy, Murder, Netflix Streaming, Personal Betrayal, Police Investigation, School Shooting, Teenagers, Torture, Violent, Wrongful Arrest

Black Space (2021)

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From Netflix:

A rogue detective with unorthodox means leads an investigation into a massacre committed by unicorn mask-wearing assassins at an Israeli high school.

From Netflix you can stream 8 episodes of this Israeli high school gun massacre series. Each episode lasts about 45 minutes.

Rami Davidi is the detective. He is losing his left eye because he was attacked in his high school days by fellow students at the same high school when the assassinations take place. As such, he carries a grudge against the school whose principle never helped him when he was attacked.

For awhile a Palestinian school maintenance man is accused. But Rami figures out that the shootings were carried out by some of the students.  When everyone finally believes Rami,  then little by little the students turn on one another.

Unless Israeli high school students are really a vicious, depraved set of people, I would prefer to assume that their portrayal in this series is an ugly exaggeration for the sake of a crime story.  Perhaps I was just plain lucky to attend an all-boys Catholic high school in Baltimore.

Overly long, almost to the point of boring, watching the fairly large set of students with unfamiliar names devour each other is a bit of a blood sport.

Yikes!

2017, Alcoholism, Amazon Prime Acorn, Basically Sad, Blackmail, Character Driven, Clever Plot, Complicated, Crime, Detective, Divorce, Ethical struggles, Extramarital Affair, False Imprisonment, Family Conflict, Farm Life, Father-son relations, Financial malfeasance, Forensics, Gangs, Human trafficking, Lawyers, Lesbian Theme, Longsuffering wife, Love Triangle, Money Laundering, Mother-son relations, Murder, Murder Investigation, Murder Trial, Occasionaly violent, Office Love Affairs, Personal Betrayal, Police Culture, Possibly depressing, Prison, Ruthless Killer, Suspense, Trial Scenes, Unhappy Marriage, Welsh detectives

Keeping Faith (2017)

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From Amazon Prime Acorn,

Season 1: 8 one hour episodes.

Award-winning actress Eve Myles (Torchwood) stars in this BBC thriller as Faith Howells, a lawyer with a happy marriage until her husband suddenly disappears. As Faith becomes the police’s prime suspect, her search for the truth leads her to the criminal underbelly of her quiet town.

Season 2: 6 one hour episodes.

A year after her husband’s disappearance, Faith (BAFTA Award winner Eve Myles) is drawn into a new mystery in this BBC thriller set along the stunning Welsh coast.

Season 3: 6 one hour episodes.

In the final season, Faith deals with her divorce, one of the most complex legal cases of her career, and her mother returning, threatening to expose long-buried secrets.

So far Kathy and I have seen the first two seasons and watching is a bit exhausting. Faith repeatedly has to face the challenges of her career and well as many personal problems, especially the betrayals of people near her.  Poor Faith never gets a moment’s rest. Season two does not end well for any of the characters. After abandoning Faith for awhile we will return to season 3. which promises to present Faith with even more wrenching difficulties.

Despite her trials and tribulations, the complicated plots  are well done.  Some of the bad guys are especially villainous.  Although each season brings its plot to conclusion, there is a continuity of themes and characters throughout all the seasons.

Well worth the watch. Just don’t expect to come away happy.

2020, Abduction, Action sequences, Art appreciation, Bloody scenes, Clever Plot, Corruption, Crime thriller, DO NOT MISS, Drugs, Dutch, Dutch detectives, Erotica, Fashion, Fist Fight, Flirting, Forensics, Government cover-up, Jealousy, Lesbian Theme, Murder Investigation, Nuns, PBS Masterpiece Streaming, Physical fighting, Police Culture, Religious Theme, Revenge, Sex Scenes, Suspense, Torture, Unbelievably smart detective, Violent

Van der Valk (2020)

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From IMDB:

A Dutch detective takes on criminal cases in Amsterdam using insightful human observation and his natural street smarts.

From PBS Passport you can stream 3 episodes of this Dutch detective series. Each episode lasts about 1.5 hours.

Episode 1: Love in Amsterdam and episode 2: Only in Amsterdam are clever,  engaging, and develops the characters well.  Although the story line in episode 3: Death in Amsterdam is not so interesting, still the episode continues to develop the characters and has an exciting gun battle at the end. We also finally get to see what is preventing Van der Valk from forming a permanent relationship.

One thread that is compelling and annoying is Van der Valk’s stubborn refusal to acknowledge the talents of the newcomer Job Cloovers.  That theme has a satisfying conclusion in the third episode.

If you only watch the first two episodes, I still say

DO NOT MISS!

2015, Ambiguous Conclusion, Bloody scenes, Boxing, Brother-Sister relations, Cocaine, Complicated, Confusing Plot, Crime, Dysfunctional Lives, Extramarital Affair, False Imprisonment, Family Conflict, Forensics, Gay theme, Illegitimate Child, Imperfect, Italian, Italian detective, Love Triangle, Mathematician, Medical Theme, Mother-daughter relations, Mother-son relations, Murder, Murder Investigation, Muslim Culture, PBS Masterpiece Streaming, Police Culture, Rape, Reconciliation, Romance, Short-lived suspenseful episodes

Thou Shalt Not Kill (2015)

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From IMDB:

Detective Valeria Ferro investigates crimes motivated by jealousy, vendettas and repressed anger to seek the truth and justice.

From PBS Passport you can stream two seasons of this Italian detective series.  Each season offers 12 episodes. Each episode lasts between 45 and 50 minutes.  Spoken Italian with English subtitles.

At the very start of the series Valeria’s mother Lucia is released from prison after 17 years. Lucia supposedly killed Valeria’s father.  Throughout the entire two seasons the continuing theme is what really happened 17 years ago.  For the most part Valeria is estranged from, angry at, and suspicious of her mother.  Valeria’s brother Giacomo takes the mother into his home.

Valeria is unmarried and is undecided about where to live, whom to love, and what the future holds.  Valeria’s lover is her current police boss Giorgio  whose orders she repeatedly countermands because of her stubborn nature.  Meanwhile her co-worker Andrea is in love with Valeria.

Every two episodes tell one complete crime story while the above mentioned themes continue.

Both Kathy and I found the plots confusing with too many characters. Additionally we did not find  the conclusion in episode 24 to be in any way satisfying.  It would seem that the producers intend further seasons.

Notice how at the end of each pair of episodes the guilty party simply confesses (often with indifference) with no attempt to cover up.  That is just plain too easy a conclusion.

Still,  the 24 episodes were not bad at all.

2009, Acceptable for teenagers, Amazon Prime, British Mystery Series, Courtroom scenes, Detective, DO NOT MISS, Forensics, Police Investigation, Suspense

Law and Order UK (2009)

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From IMDB:

UK version of the long-running U.S. TV drama that tells the stories of two separate yet equally important groups: the police, who investigate crime; and the attorneys, who prosecute the offenders.

From Amazon Prime you can stream 5 seasons of this police and courtroom series.  Seasons 1, 2, and 3 offer 13 episodes each. Season 4 offers 6 episodes. Season 5 offers 8 episodes.  Every episode is about 48 minutes.

For years Kathy and I have enjoyed the US version of “Law and Order” but we both agree that somehow for us the UK version is better.  Each episode is positively wrenching. Someone, innocent or guilty, will suffer greatly.  What probably adds to the plot urgency is the fact that the villains are often so arrogantly evil that we cannot wait for them to get their comeuppance.

Six characters dominate the stories: two detectives, their boss and three jurists.  Portraits of these six men and women are anything but cut and dried.  Each has a personal life that often figures in a plot.

What is a bit disturbing is how easily the series replaces characters (and as a result, actors)  Don’t fall in love with any one personality which might soon be eliminated one way or another.

There are so many plots that it is not practical trying to add enough categories in the header of this review.

Do you have time to watch 53 episodes? Better hurry and get started.

DO NOT MISS!

2017, Abduction, Abuse of Women, Acceptable Trash, Action Hero, Action sequences, B-movie, Binge worthy, Blackmail, Bloody scenes, Bromance, Brother-Brother relations, Chase film, Complicated, Contract Killing, Corruption, Cover-up, Death penalty debate, Detective, Extramarital Affair, Father-daughter relations, Forensics, Frame someone for a crime, Friendship, Happy ending, Improbable details, Invincible Hero, Marital Infidelity, Mediocre, Mental Illness, Mother-son relations, Murder, Must suspend disbelief, Netflix Streaming, Personal Betrayal, Police Corruption, Psychiatrists, Psychopath, Torture, Violent

Somewhere Between (2017)

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From IMDB:

A local news producer is given one chance to relive a deadly week and stop a serial killer. If she fails, she’ll lose her daughter forever.

From Netflix:

While investigating a serial killer, strange coincidences begin to pile up around news producer Laura. Suddenly, her daughter disappears.

From Netflix you can stream 8 episodes of this TV thriller. Each episode lasts about 43 minutes.

Give this production B or, if you are feeling generous, B+.  Why the negativity on my part?  Don’t misunderstand me, I binged from one suspenseful episode to the next. But in order to let the good guys win and the bad guys lose, this plot will supply as many implausible or impossible details as it takes to succeed.  As an example,  in one comical device that is used several times, our heroes are submerged in water and can hold their breath for practically an entire episode. Perhaps I exaggerate, but you get the idea.

If any of the actors managed to steal the show, it was the 8 year old Serena (played to smart aleck perfection by Aria Birch) who plays the daughter of the news producer Laura Price.

At least a whole raft of unknown actors got a chance to perform.

Rest assured, after watching all the bad guys come to their well earned demise,  you can enjoy a happy sappy ending.