Category Archives: Detective

2019, Abuse of Women, Binge worthy, Bloody scenes, Catholic culture, Creepy, Dark, Detective, Drugs, Ethical struggles, Failing Marriage, Family Conflict, Father-daughter relations, Father-son relations, Flashbacks, Forensics, Frame someone for a crime, Illegitimate Child, Lawyers, Marital Infidelity, Mother-son relations, Murder, Netflix Streaming, Occasionaly violent, Panic Attacks, Police Investigation, Problematic Ending, Psychiatrists, Psychological Drama, Psychological Thriller, Religious Theme, Serial Killer, Sex Scenes, Suspense, Violent, Wrestling

Reckoning (2019)

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From IMDB:

Explores the darkest corners of the male psyche through the eyes of two fathers, one of whom is a serial-killer.

From Netflix you can stream the 10 episodes of this serial-killer soap opera. Each episode lasts about 45 minutes.

Far from being a predictable serial-killer police procedural, this series is a study in psychology that involves a large cast of well presented characters.

From almost the earliest episodes, your hunch as to which character is the RRK serial killer will be vindicated.  But having the police catch the killer is not the only important focus.  Additionally we watch the interaction of that killer with all the others involved.

Sean Barker, the Australian actor that plays Edgar Harris, steals the show.   Aden Young, the Canadian actor that plays detective Mike Serrato,  plays as tortured a personality as does Sean Barker.

There is a conclusion, but it will not be what you might expect. Be prepared possibly for a final moment in which you ask “Is that really the end of the story?”

BINGE WORTHY!

2018, Abduction, Addiction, Ambiguous Conclusion, Bicycles, Bloody scenes, Conspiracy, Corruption, Crime thriller, Detective, DO NOT MISS, Dog episode, Drugs, Ethical struggles, Family Conflict, Flashbacks, Forensics, Greed, Hunting, Kidnapping, Made For TV, MHz Choice, Mother-son relations, Murder, Murder Investigation, Personal Betrayal, Police Corruption, Police cover-up, Suspense, Swedish, Swedish Detective, Thriller, Uncle-Nephew relations, Violent, Wrongful Arrest

The Hunters (2018)

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From IMDB:

Erik returns to the northernmost of Sweden after a lifetime with Stockholm police [seeThe Hunters (1996) and False Trail (2011)]. Retirement doesn’t become him so he helps his nephew Peter, a rookie at the local police.

From MHz Choice:

Rolf Lassgard stars as a retired Stockholm cop drawn into a mystery in Sweden’s far north.

From MHz Choice you can stream the 6 episodes of this Swedish detective thriller. Each episode lasts about 45 minutes.  Swedish sound track with English subtitles.

Evidently (from IMDB) “The Hunters” was a Swedish TV series that began in 1996.  Rolf Lassgard has played the same Stockholm cop in other installments.  His role as Erik Bäckström is played superbly.

THRILLER is an understatement. You have the privilege of being able to stream all the episodes as fast as you wish, where I had to wait not so patiently for each Tuesday’s new episode to be available.

But then I am always a sucker for plots in which the villain (or in this case villains) is so smoothly corrupt and knows how to seduce others into his corruption while framing others for the crimes. By the time I watched the last episode I was literally shaking with anticipation. Up to the very last moment the bad guys seemed to be winning.

DO NOT MISS!

 

2016, Acceptable Trash, Action Hero, Chick Flick, Conspiracy, Contract Killing, Corny, Detective, DNA, Extramarital Affair, Father-daughter relations, Flashbacks, Forensics, Frame someone for a crime, Human experimentation, Invincible Hero, Kidnapping, Netflix Streaming, Romance, Sex Scenes, Short-lived suspenseful episodes, Sister-sister relations, Soap Opera, Various Romances, Violent

Beauty and the Beast (2016)

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From IMDB

A beautiful detective falls in love with an ex-soldier who goes into hiding from the secret government organization that turned him into a mechanically charged beast.

From Netflix you can stream 4 seasons of this romantic, sci-fi piece of fluff.  But before you start, at least realize that there are 70 episodes, each episode more corny than the previous episode. Seasons 1 and 2 consist of 22 episodes each. Seasons 3 and 4 consist of 13 episodes each.

And no, I have not seen all 70 episodes. Surely, I thought, if I waded through 22 episodes the story would end. Alas, episode 22 at the very end makes it quite clear that this is the series that never ends.

With each episode there is enough repetitious romantic palaver to fill a shelf in the congressional library.  However, this series also counts as genuine escape from every day reality.  For the sake of history, future readers (if any still exist) should realize that we are now in April 2020 confronting the coronavirus and are forced to stay indoors.  Maybe 70 episodes are not so  bad after all.

As with many B+ so-called “thrillers” the stress level is kept to a minimum. No sooner have our hero and heroine been confronted with a threat, then in a mere 15 microseconds the problem is solved, usually by having our all-powerful hero turn into the “monster” and saving his damsel in distress.

At least give credit to the inventiveness:  many episodes introduce some new character with his or her own secret agenda. These days you never know what normal looking person is really a monster in disguise.

Be patient because after quite a few episodes our love duet lovers finally have sex without him turning into a monster.

And still I persist in following the nonsense. Possibly better than sitting around fretting. Am I harsh in calling this series “acceptable trash?”

2019, Acceptable for teenagers, Acorn TV, Amnesia, Boating, Detective, Drug Dealers, Drugs, Dutch, Dutch detectives, Extramarital Affair, Failing Marriage, Father-son relations, Forensics, Jealousy, Marital Infidelity, Mother-daughter relations, Murder, Murder Investigation, Plot Twist, Postpartum Depression, Revenge, Suicide, Surprise Ending, Violent

The Schouwendam 12 (2019)

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From Acorn TV:

Decades ago, teenagers Olaf and Alice disappeared from the Dutch village of Schouwendam without a trace. Then an unknown man suddenly turns up in town with no memories but a clear resemblance to Olaf. The residents are forced to confront the mysteries of the past, but who is lying and who is telling the truth? As new fatalities occur, the community is riven with fear in this Dutch-language drama.

From Acorn TV you can stream this 10 episode one season Dutch mystery drama. Each episode lasts about 45 minutes. English subtitles. Now and then the characters speak English.

As this mystery proceeds, one by one residents of this small town are being murdered. Meanwhile the newly appeared “Olaf” who is suffering from amnesia keeps trying to discover if he really is Olaf.

As a subplot the young policeman Pim must contend with his wife and newborn infant because his wife is suffering from serious postpartum depression.  This becomes relevant to the mystery solution.

To help Pim a new superior  woman detective Karlijn van Andel  arrives on the scene.  Her personal story also becomes relevant to the plot.

Be prepared for a very surprising final episode.

Well worth your time.

2020, Acceptable for teenagers, Agatha Christie, Amazon Prime, Ambiguous Conclusion, British, British Mystery Series, Confusing Plot, Contract Killing, Detective, Extramarital Affair, Failing Marriage, Imperfect, Marital Infidelity, Mediocre, Murder Investigation, Plot twists, Psychological Thriller, Small British village, Witchcraft

The Pale Horse (2020)

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From IMDB:

Is a trio of witches responsible for a series of sudden deaths or is there a rational explanation?

From Amazon Prime you can stream both hour-long episodes of this mystery story supposedly based on a story by Agatha Christie.

But don’t bother with this adaptation. Thank to a warning found in IMDB:

Sarah Phelps “version” is a complete mess. The production has an excellent cast including Rufus Sewell, who is magnificent as usual. The set design and costumes are top notch and even the cinematography and music are good, but…

Sarah Phelp’s story, script and directing are terrible. She makes an utter train wreck out of the original story and what’s left makes no sense at all. I can only hope that Sarah Phelps writes and creates her own scripts for future projects as she has no talent adapting existing stories.

Much of what the reviewer says rings true. Oddly enough I enjoyed watching what is essentially a good production. Indeed Rufus Sewell is very good.  But the ending left me confused.

If you are interested, read the Wikipedia account of the novel where you will see that there is very little in common with the two versions.

Skip this unfortunately watchable mess.

2010, Acceptable for teenagers, Acorn TV, Ambiguous Conclusion, Bloody scenes, Boxing, Corruption, Crime thriller, Deaf person, Detective, DO NOT MISS, Drug Dealers, Ethical struggles, Family Conflict, Father-daughter relations, Father-son relations, Happy Family Gatherings, Irish Detective Series, Mother-daughter relations, Murder Investigation, Police Corruption, Police cover-up, Police Culture, Police Politics, Suspense, Thriller, Uncle-Niece relations, Upsetting ending, Valium appropriate, Violent

The Silence (2010)

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From Acorn TV:

Deaf teenager Amelia (Genevieve Barr, Liar) wants to adjust to the hearing world and escape her overprotective parents (Hugh Bonneville & Gina McKee). But when she witnesses a murder, it jeopardizes the career of her homicide-detective uncle (Douglas Henshall, Shetland) and endangers her whole family. “A stunningly well-made thriller…taut, suspenseful and earth-shatteringly well written” –Express.

From Acorn TV you can stream the 4 episodes of this Irish thriller. Each episode is about an hour.

Talk about tense! In Shetland Douglas Henshall’s character DI Jimmy Perez is calm, thoughtful, persistent, and competent.  In “The Silence” his detective character Jim (characters as found in IMDB have no last names) is persistent, competent, not corrupt, however anything but calm.  And no wonder! His deaf niece Amelia witnesses one corrupt cop murder another cop by running her down with an automobile.  Jim is faced with protecting her while fighting to convince his fellow officers that there are clever, bent cops in the precinct who murder and are drug dealers.  Moreover, because of his exasperated demeanor those bent cops can easily persuade Jim’s  colleagues that Jim has mental problems, which reminds us of Trump’s method of discrediting anyone who disagrees with him.

You will probably recognize some of the other actors such as:

From IMDB we learn some personal facts about the deaf actress Genevieve Barr:  Genevieve Barr was born deaf and normally uses hearing aids. For her role as Amelia, who has just had a cochlear implant fitted, she was required to remove her hearing aids. She also had to learn sign language which she had never done before because she had always relied on her hearing aids supplemented by lip reading.

You might be astounded, disappointed, angry, puzzled, or all of the above after the last (fourth) episode finishes. But that is a notable feature of British plots:  why waste time on the details of an expected warm-feeling finale?  You can figure out for yourself what will happen next. However, if it makes you feel any better, rest assured there are many “outraged” reviews. Here is just one such review from IMDB:

What a Shame!

jeanjeannie3815 July 2010
I watched this, potentially brilliant, mini serial for each of its four days. Each day I really looked forward to the next episode. However, having now watched the whole series, I have reached the conclusion that the drama should have continued for five days instead of four. The fourth episode could very easily have concluded with a cliffhanger concerning the main character. This would have enabled the drama to end in a much more satisfying way. Instead, after watching four days of a truly gripping thriller, the ending was very disappointing. I don’t think merely leaving your audience with a good idea of the probably outcome of a drama is a patch on concluding with a fully rounded ending. Instead of the series concluding in a way that left me pleased I have invested my time and energy in it, I was left feeling it had been cut short because the writer (or director) had simply run out of steam. On the plus side the acting, especially of those playing the two leading characters, was first class.
…
Don’t listen to them. This is one really good thriller!
DO NOT MISS!
2019, Acceptable for teenagers, Bad Acting, Barely Acceptable Trash, Beautiful Seaside Town, Blackmail, Bloody scenes, Career Competition, Chick Flick, Child Molestation, Contract Killing, Contract Maiming, Corny, Corruption, Dancing, Detective, Drama, Drug Dealers, Drugs, Eccentric cast of characters, Ends in Cliff Hanger, Ethical struggles, False Imprisonment, Family Conflict, Fist Fight, Frame someone for a crime, Friendship, Gangs, Gay Bashing, Gay theme, Improbable details, Latino Culture, Love Story, Male Prostitutes, Mediocre, Melodrama, Mental Illness, Mother-son relations, Motorcycles, Murder, Murder Investigation, Must suspend disbelief, Netflix Streaming, Nudity, Personal Betrayal, Plot twists, Police Corruption, Police cover-up, Police Politics, Rape, Revenge, Ridiculous plot, Soap Opera, Sometimes seems silly, Somewhat trashy, Spanish, Telenovela, Uncle-Nephew relations, Unjust crime conviction, Various Romances, Violent

Toy Boy (2019)

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From Netflix:

A stripper sets out to prove his innocence for a crime he didn’t commit and was unjustly incarcerated for seven years earlier.

From Netflix you can stream the 13 episodes (each episode about 70 minutes) of this Spanish telenovela.  Many spoken languages and caption languages are available.

Spanish telenovelas inhabit a world of their own.  Chief among their attributes are “corny”, “amateurish”,  and “sometimes really stupid.” So why on earth did I watch this unintentionally laughable marathon? Netflix seemed to promote this series, so I started. Injustice and villains always get me going.  Because I have to see justice done I just keep plodding along to the end.

Before you waste your time let me list some of the “features” of this charmer:

  •  You might enjoy listening to the original Spanish (as in Spain, not Latin America) sound track. You might want Spanish captions. At the very least it could possibly be a learning experience although there are better options.
  •  Each tension point is almost immediately resolved so you don’t have to get all worked up.  Sometimes those immediate solutions seem far fetched or just too convenient.
  • Recall that telenovelas for all their involvement with sex are really very chaste.   Certainly the endless number of male stripper dance sequences are as innocent as they are boring.
  •  Warning: From the very last scene, it is obvious that there will probably be another season or even 100 more seasons. Possibilities are endless.

You can do much better, but in a certain sense the whole production is a hoot!

2012, Acceptable for teenagers, Accidental Death, Acorn TV, Alcoholism, Bloody scenes, British Mystery Series, Complicated, Detective, Financial malfeasance, Forensics, Friendship, Interest in cats, Jealousy, Love Story, Marital Infidelity, Murder Investigation, Psychological Drama, Sex Scenes, Suicide, Violent, Well developed plot

What To Do When Someone Dies (2012)

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From Acorn TV:

In this “very superior psychological drama” (Daily Express, UK), happily married teacher Ellie (Anna Friel, Pushing Daisies, Marcella) is devastated when her husband (Marc Warren, The Good Wife) dies in a car crash–with another woman in his car. The police dismiss it as an extramarital affair, but Ellie feels certain that something is not right and determines to learn the truth about the accident.

From Acorn TV you can stream this 3 episode British TV series. Each episode lasts about 46 minutes.

One death leads to more deaths, all of which are really accidents or suicide or may have been made to appear as such.  For most of the 3 episodes only the grieving wife Ellie is convinced of foul play. Her supportive friends don’t give up on her, even as she stubbornly investigates.  At times even I was convinced she was delusional.  After watching the last episode, Kathy and I agreed it was a really good presentation.

Well worth your time.

2014, Abuse of Women, Acceptable for teenagers, Amazon Prime, Amusing banter, Based on a Book, Bloody scenes, Creepy, Detective, Disturbing Image, Happy Family Gatherings, Murder, Serial Killer, Sex Scenes, Stalker, Stephen King, Stephen King, Strange Ending

A Good Marriage (2014)

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From IMDB:

After 25 years of a good marriage, what will Darcy do once she discovers her husband’s sinister secret?

From Amazon Prime you can stream this 1 hour 41 minute complete film.

Based on a short story by Stephen King, this suspense thriller is about a wife who accidentally discovers that her husband of 25 years is a serial killer of women whom he first tortures before killing them. You learn this at the very beginning of the story and is not here a spoiler.  Really the question is: Having made this discovery what does she do next?

Darcy Anderson, the wife is played by Joan Allen who played Colonel Margaret Rayne in the TV series The Killing,  Bob Anderson, the husband, is played by Anthony LaPaglia whose resumé is enormous.

LaPaglia’s portrayal of a man darkly stalking his next victim is what you would expect.  What is more surprising is his loving behavior toward his wife even after she makes the discovery. Hard to believe, but it actually works!

Absence of any violence  or torture (although there are photographs of the victims)  obviates the need to cringe.

What would you do if you discovered that your spouse is a serial killer?

2009, Abuse of Women, Acceptable for teenagers, Amazon Prime, Bloody scenes, Cold Cases, Corruption, Detective, Mother-daughter relations, Murder, Murder Investigation, Pedophilia, Police Corruption, Prostitutes, Revenge, Sex Scenes, Surprise Ending, Unmarried mother, Violent

Murderland (2009)

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From IMDB:

A thriller that tells a traumatic murder story through the eyes of three central characters: Carrie the daughter of the murdered woman, Douglas Hain the detective in charge of the investigation, and Sally the murder victim.

From Amazon Prime  you can stream this 1 hour 57 minute full film.

Douglas Hain is an unhappily retired police detective. Carrie runs away from her wedding ceremony because she feels she cannot lead a normal life until she finds out who brutally stabbed her mother to death.  In a determined way Carrie starts digging which leads her to Hain who was the detective that worked on the unsolved cold case.

First impression is that Hain was the killer because he was romantically involved with the victim.  As the story develops using many flashbacks,  little by little the crime details come forth. Expect a bit of a surprise ending.

Sharon Small (played Rose Marshbrook in The Bay which we recently reviewed)  as Dr. Laura Maitland is one of the more familiar actors.

Nothing to criticize in this well-acted suspense thriller.