Category Archives: Forensics

2018, Abduction, Action Film, Action Hero, Amazon Prime, Amnesia, Bloody scenes, Brother-Sister relations, Car Chase, Child abuse, Complicated, Creepy, Detective, Disturbing Image, Emotional child abuse, Family Conflict, Father-daughter relations, Father-son relations, Forensics, Improbable details, Invincible Hero, Kidnapping, Mad scientist, Marital Infidelity, Mental Illness, Mother-son relations, Murder, Murder Investigation, Physical child abuse, Psychopath, Revenge, Serial Killer, Sometimes seems silly, Suspense, Thriller, Torture, Unbelievably smart detective, Violent

Absentia (2018)

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From Amazon Prime:

Centers on an FBI agent who disappears without a trace while hunting a serial killer.

From IMDB:

After being declared dead in absentia, an FBI agent must reclaim her family, identity and innocence when she finds herself the prime suspect in a string of murders.

From Amazon Prime you can stream the 10 episodes of this one season Amazon Prime Original series. Each episode lasts about 45 minutes.

With so many categories involved, it is hard to pin down a short characterization: suspense, police detectives, FBI, serial killers, mad scientist, kidnapping, innocent suspect trying to find the truth.

Emily Byrne, who is played by Stana Katic (Kate Becket of “Castle” fame), is central to the story. Emily, an FBI agent, has been missing for 6 years. Her supposed killer, Conrad Harlow, is released from jail when she mysteriously reappears suffering from amnesia. Meanwhile her husband, FBI agent Nick Durand, has remarried Alice Durand. Nick and Alice are raising Flynn, Nick’s son by Emily. Needless to say, Nick will remain conflicted about a choice between Emily and Alice for all ten episodes.

Emily’s energies are devoted for all ten episodes in finding out what ever happened to her. She has nightmare flashbacks to being placed in a sealed glass tank that regularly fills with water to almost drown her. Unfortunately Harlow is murdered and Emily is blamed. More murders ensue for which Emily is again blamed. For the rest of the story Emily is on the run from the Boston Police Department and the FBI in a desperate attempt to learn the truth and clear her name. Emily’s father and brother become involved. Nick teams up with a BPD detective to do the investigation.

Before you devote yourself to 10 episodes, there are some warnings:

  • At least the first time you see that torture tank you will almost certainly cringe. That tank is a persistent fixture in the story.
  • Emily is an unbelievable superwoman: she leaps over walls, she runs for long distances, seeming she hardly ever eats or sleeps, she always invents incredibly clever solutions for each crisis. In other words, just suspend disbelief.
  • Similarly there are just too many suddenly convenient discoveries, clues, escapes, etc. Again just suspend disbelief. But it did help to have a happy (if somewhat lame) ending.

Having warned you, nevertheless I breathlessly binge-watched all ten episodes.

2008, Abduction, Acceptable for teenagers, Based on a Book, Bloody scenes, Bullying, Detective, Divorce, DO NOT MISS, Dysfunctional Lives, Extramarital Affair, Failing Marriage, Father-son relations, Forensics, MHz Choice, Mother-son relations, Murder, Murder Investigation, Norwegian, Norwegian Crime Story, Norwegian Detective, Police Story, Revenge, Suspense, Transvestite theme, Violent

Unni Lindell (2008)

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From MHz Choice:

In this series based on the popular crime novels by prolific Norwegian author Unni Lindell, middle-aged detective Cato Isaksen (Reidar Sørensen) performs superbly at work while his personal life, on a good day, resembles barely-managed chaos. Careening between significant others and keeping up with three young sons by two different mothers, Cato tries his best to do right by all the players.

From MHz Choice you can stream 4 stories about Cato Isaken, a Norwegian detective. Each story is composed of 2 episodes where each episode is 1.5 hours.

From “The Euro TV Place”  I found this review of the TV series which characterized the series as mediocre.  However, I found the series more than passable with lots of the kind of tension which compels me to keep bingeing toward a resolution.

Cato Isaksen, the lead detective, is a determined detective and as a result a somewhat negligent family man. His life is really messy, complicated by fathering a child by a post-divorce girl friend.  He leaves the girlfriend after the first story “The Snake Bearer” but continues leading a troubled family life. In subsequent episodes his son is seriously bullied while the detective is too busy to notice.

WARNING: Ugliness abounds in some of the episodes, as in “not for the squeamish.”

In my opinion you will not be wasting your time on this series. In fact I was so caught up that I will rate it, for those of you who enjoy this genre, a DO NOT MISS!

2016, Acceptable Sci-Fi, Amazon Prime, Ambiguous Conclusion, Amnesia, Australian, Bloody scenes, Complicated, Conspiracy, Creepy, Crime, Detective, DNA, Drugs, Ends in Cliff Hanger, Extramarital Affair, Family Conflict, Father-daughter relations, Forensics, Good Production Values, Improbable details, Medical Theme, Mental Illness, Mother-daughter relations, Mother-son relations, Murder, Personal Betrayal, Police Corruption, Police Politics, Possible a put-on, Psychic Phenomena, Sad small town, Sex Scenes, Somewhat ridiculous plot, Suspense, Unusual, Upsetting ending, Violent

The Kettering Incident (2016)

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From Amazon Prime:

Two girls disappear in identical circumstances in the wilds of Tasmania 15 years apart, and Doctor Anna Macy finds herself linked to both cases. To clear her name, Anna must delve into her troubled past and face some truths about herself and the otherworldly nature of this gothic land.

From Amazon Prime you can stream 8 episodes of season 1. Each episode last about 50 minutes.

Possibly it was the adolescent side of my brain that kept me interested in staying with the series. Each episode added some new mysterious element. At any minute I expected little green men to arrive in a space ship. Alas the green men never arrived and the creepy details just piled up. Still I forged onward hoping for the best.

WARNING:   Do not expect a satisfying conclusion to the story. Instead you get a semi-conclusion that must lead into the next season, which does not seem to exist yet.

Why did I fall for this possible put-on?  Probably because this Australian production is well done with good acting and believable character interaction. In fact, I don’t regret having watched it at all.

2003, Acceptable for teenagers, Acorn TV, Based on a Book, British school girls, Detective, Extramarital Affair, Family Conflict, Forensics, Jealousy, Murder, Murder Investigation, Nothing special, Personal Betrayal, School Teacher, Sex With Minors, Sex with underage girls, Sexual Tension, Sister-sister relations, Teenagers

Lloyd and Hill (2003)

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From Acorn TV:

Inspired the beloved characters created by Jill McGown, former lovers and detectives, Chief Inspector Danny Lloyd (Philip Glenister, The Level, Outcast) and Inspector Judy Hill (Michelle Collins, Coronation Street) investigate the death of a 15-year-old schoolgirl found strangled and deserted in a public park.

From Acorn TV (exclusively British empire productions) you can stream this 1.5 hour British film which is not part of a TV series.

Although nothing special, the hour and half spent watching this detective story is not a waste. To tell you the truth, I suspected the real murderer from the beginning. But there is enough drama, including the personal crisis of an obsessive runner and his betrayal by his close friend, to make the story worthwhile.

Beats being depressed by 2018 USA politics.

 

2014, Action Film, Bloody scenes, Conspiracy, Contract Killing, Corruption, Crude Talk, Dark, Ends in Cliff Hanger, Ethical struggles, Extramarital Affair, Forensics, Gloomy, Grungy, Gun Trafficking, MHz Choice, Military Corruption, Murder, Murder Investigation, Personal Betrayal, Police Corruption, Polish, Polish Border Guards, Serial Killer, Suspense, Thriller, TV Series, Upsetting ending, Violent, Weapons Dealer

Wataha (2014)

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From IMDB:

After bombing attack, which killed his friends from the Border Guard, Captain Wiktor Rebrow trying to unravel the mystery and figure out what happened and who is behind it all.

From MHz Choice:

A tense Polish thriller about an elite border unit specializing in human trafficking cases. After a bomb attack decimates his team, the lone survivor sets out to bring the perpetrators to justice.

From MHz Choice you can stream the only Polish TV series offered. Only Season 1 is available with its 6 episodes, each about 45 minutes. “Wataha” according to the subtitles means “The Pack” even though IMDB calls it “The Border.”

UNFORTUNATELY:  Season 1 resolves neither the mystery nor the injustices. IMDB describes the episodes of Season 2 and even those episodes do not end the story. Even though the series is very well done, you might want to wait until someday you can see the story to its conclusion.

Along the border between Poland and the Ukraine there is human trafficking and that is exclusively where the action takes place. But the story is really about the border guard Wiktor Rebrow who is framed for several murders and the DA Iga Dobosz who pursues Rebrow relentlessly but finally realizes Rebrow was set up just as Rebrow escapes from the police and flees toward the Ukraine at the unsatisfactory end of Season 1.

“Bleak”, “Grungy”,  “Ugly” and “Depressing” are a few words that describe the Polish territory and its inhabitants. If this presentation is representative of Poland,  you can forget about ever visiting Poland.

Isn’t it too bad that the episodes are so exciting when there will be no satisfactory conclusion in the foreseeable future?

2007, Abduction, Abuse of Women, Action Film, Bloody scenes, Crime thriller, DNA, Extramarital Affair, Forensics, Large-scale gang activity, Lesbian Theme, Made For TV, MHz Choice, Mixed Martial Arts, Murder, Norwegian, Norwegian Crime Story, Nudity, Prison, Prostitutes, Suspense, Theft, Thriller, Violent

Codename Hunter (2007)

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From IMDB:

An intense hijacking of a prisoner transfer van which leads to a formation of a secret police unit called HUNTER. The officers in this specialized group don’t always go by the book but they often get solid results. The leader is Dan W. who says he is just an analyst…but he is very smart and has a nickname of ‘sniper’. Also in the group is an undercover cop who is good with details and a good kick boxer. Six episodes cover one complete story through lots of action and complicated political characters and criminal elements.

From MHz Choice you can stream 2 seasons of this Norwegian crime thriller.  Each season contains 6 one-hour episodes.

So far the Norwegian offerings from MHz Choice have been excellent, including this exciting story.

Probably the lead male character is Bjorn Ronningen (played by Mads Ousdal). Throughout season 1 his wife is about to give birth while Bjorn is sent to many countries tracking down the gang.

Undoubtedly the lead female character is the undercover agent Kikki (played by Ane Dahl Torp) who spends the entire season 1 in great danger as she infiltrates the gang and falls in love with one of the criminals.

Enough excitement and complications to keep us interested.

2015, Abduction, Abuse of Women, Belgian, Blackmail, Bloody scenes, Child abduction and murder, Child abuse, Child Molestation, Contract Killing, Corruption, Could Be Hard To Watch, Danish, Danish Detectives, Dark, Dutch, Emotional child abuse, Extramarital Affair, Failing Marriage, Forensics, French, German, Greed, Grim, Grisly, Incest, International thriler, Made For TV, Marital Infidelity, MHz Choice, Murder, Nudity, Pedophilia, Physical child abuse, Polish, Pornographic Scenes, Prostitutes, Rape, Revenge, Serial Killer, Sex Scenes, Sex trafficking, Slave trafficking, Sociopath, Spousal Abuse, Suspense, Terminal Disease, Torture, Valium appropriate, Violent, Wife Beating

The Team (2015)

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From MHz Choice:

Lars Mikkelsen (‘Borgen’, ‘1864’) stars as the leader of a joint Danish-German-Belgian investigative team tasked with solving a series of murders in this gripping crime thriller from the writers of ‘The Eagle’.

What makes this one season of 8 episodes streamed from MHz Choice so gripping for me is that the villain Marius Loukauskis  is so vile and so cynically amoral that I could not wait to get to the conclusion. Unfortunately MHz Choice doled out the episodes week after week. Finally you can see now all the episodes at once, which is why I waited to recommend and review this excellent series.

Because the “Team” is assembled from several countries (even though the production is from Denmark), you will hear many languages: French, English, German, and others. As usual they are accompanied by subtitles.

Each member of the team has their own personal story to tell. Often that story is quite unhappy.

WARNING: If you are squeamish, DO NOT WATCH this series (which is not acceptable for young people, let alone lots of adults).

2009, Acceptable for teenagers, Addiction, Amateur lawbreakers, Based on a Book, Blackmail, Comic Moments, Crime, Detective, Drug Dealers, Drugs, Extramarital Affair, Failing Marriage, Forensics, Jealousy, Marital Infidelity, MHz Choice, Murder, Murder Investigation, Norwegian, Norwegian Crime Story, Nudity, Quirky, Sex Scenes

Good Night Darling (2009)

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From  MHz Choice:

A struggling musician tries his hand at blackmail after inadvertently filming a murder in this dark and quirky three-part miniseries based on the novel by Norwegian author Fredrik Skagen.

MHz Choice streams the three episodes of this Norwegian  TV miniseries. Each episode is one hour. English subtitles.

“Quirky” is the right description for this oddball cat-and-mouse story of murder and blackmail. Terje Lyngmo, the blackmailer, is an amateur at his new craft of blackmail and as such makes mistakes which his more clever target, the murderer, takes advantage of. Until the end it is not at all clear what to expect the conclusion to bring.

If it is possible to have a relaxing and fun story of murder and blackmail, then this easy story fits the bill.

2012, Abduction, Abortion, Abuse of Women, Adopted child, Adultery, Arson, Asperger's Syndrome, Bloody scenes, Child abduction and murder, Child abuse, Child Molestation, Complicated, Crime, Dark, Detective, DO NOT MISS, Dysfunctional Lives, Emotional child abuse, Extramarital Affair, Failing Marriage, Family Conflict, Forensics, MHz Choice, Mildly Violent, Mother-daughter relations, Murder, Murder by poison, Murder Investigation, Pedophilia, Police Culture, Police Politics, Psychopath, Revenge, Serial Killer, Spousal Abuse, Suicide, Suspense, Swedish, Swedish crime series, Swedish Detective

Camilla Läckberg (2012)

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From MHz Choice:

Camilla Läckberg’s beloved characters return in a TV series based on three of her bestselling mystery novels. Set in Fjällbacka on the west coast of Sweden, Detective Patrik Hedström and his fiancée, the novelist Erica Falck, become enmeshed in complex crimes affecting all the residents of the tiny coastal community.

Jean Edith Camilla Läckberg  is a Swedish crime writer. As of the early-2010’s, her work has been translated into at least 40 languages in 60 countries.

Our last review was for “The Hidden Child” which was a stand-alone presentation streamed from MHz Choice of one of Camilla Läckberg’s stories.

This review of a series streamed from MHz Choice contains 3 more stories from Camilla Läckberg:

“The Preacher”: presented in one 1.5 hour episode.

“The Stonecutter”: presented in two 1 hour episodes.

“The Stranger”: presented in two 1 hour episodes.

Amazon sells all 8 books of the author’s “Fjällbacka ” series.

As with “The Hidden Child” the stories are grim, and the inter-personal relationships important. Another DO NOT MISS!

 

 

 

2011, Abduction, Action Film, Adultery, Bank Robbery, Bloody scenes, Boating, Cancer theme, Car Chase, Chase film, Complicated, Computer geeks, Conspiracy, Contract Killing, Could Be Hard To Watch, Dark, Detective, Disturbing Image, DO NOT MISS, Dysfunctional Lives, Explicit sex, Explicit sexual discussion, Family Conflict, Father-daughter relations, Father-son relations, FBI, Forensics, Gangs, Grim, International thriler, Iraq War, Made For TV, Marital Infidelity, MHz Choice, Murder, Nudity, Plot Twist, Psychopath, Sadism, Serial Killer, Sex Scenes, Spy Theme, Suspense, Swedish, Swedish crime series, Swiss detective, Terrorists, Thriller, Torture, TV Series, Various Romances, Violent, Well developed plot

Arne Dahl (2011)

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From MHz Choice:

Rough. Raw. Real. This is the world of Arne Dahl, whose crime novels have been transposed to the screen in adaptations that follow the dramatic tradition of all best-selling Scandinavian thrillers. The series revolves around cases taken on by the ‘A Unit’, an elite force of officers recruited after a series of assassinations rocks Stockholm’s high society.

MHz Choice streams several seasons (from many years beginning with 2011) of this Swedish thriller.  There are 5 complete stories, one per different year. Each story consists of 2 episodes. Each Episode is about 1.5 hours long. Swedish script with English subtitles.

REVISION 1 (Feb 2021):

There are now 2 seasons available from MHz Choice.  In the second season several of the excellent first season actors are missing or have been replaced.  Season 2 is acceptable, but not (in my opinion) a good as season 1.  Season 2 is a bit more of a soap opera. Still worth watching.

ORIGINAL REVIEW:

Throughout the 5 stories the same team of detectives are together. As is usual in such productions, the personal lives of the detectives are easily as important as the mystery plots.

As powerful and as grim as the stories are, they are so well done that they are really worth watching. But you should expect blood, torture as well as some explicit sex. Many scenes involve foot or car chases.

Not only are the stories complicated, but there are many surprise turns including some endings you might not expect.

This series is so compelling that I will rate it a DO NOT MISS!