Category Archives: Contract Killing

2016, Abduction, Abortion, Addiction, Amnesia, Arson, Belgian Detectives, Bloody scenes, Boxing, Complicated, Computer geeks, Contract Killing, Corruption, Crime, Dark, Drama, Drugs, Explicit sex, Extramarital Affair, Father-daughter relations, Forensics, French, Grisly, Lesbian Theme, Love Story, Mental Illness, Mother-daughter relations, Mother-son relations, Murder Investigation, Netflix Streaming, Nudity, Psychiatrists, Psychological Drama, Revenge, Sex Scenes, Small Town Atmosphere, Soap Opera, Soccer, Sociopath, Suspense, Teenagers, Violent, Vulgar

The Break (2016)

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From Netflix:

Soon after arriving in Heiderfeld, Inspector Yoann Peeters is called to the scene of a suspected suicide and begins uncovering troubling details.

From Netflix you can stream the 10 episodes of this compelling detective story in French with subtitles. According to Wikepedia The Break (French: La Trêve, “The Truce”) is a French-language Belgian crime drama television series

Actually this series is a soap opera with many characters,  quite a bit of sex and violence, and many surprises. In fact I would estimate that each episode has at least 3 or so unexpected  plot revelations. Not until the very, very end will you discover “who done it”. If you truly guess the answer before episode 10, then let me know.

Inspector Peeters has left Brussels with his daughter after the death of his wife and has returned to his hometown Heiderfeld in the hopes of a fresh start. He goes to work for the local police force populated by 6 or so characters whose own stories and involvements with one another are an integral part of the plot. Peeters’  daughter makes a friend and in order to fit in socially makes mistakes. There are teen friends, a soccer team and its managers, a woman mayor scheming to buy the area’s farms to make way for a dam, and subplots galore. Most of all, running through the entire story is the fact that Peeters is eventually confined to a mental hospital and is in every episode being interviewed by a woman psychiatrist of the institution, who must evaluate Peeters’ mental health. Flashbacks are a principal tool in the story telling.

Oddly enough Yoann Peeters is played by a Belgian actor Yoann Blanc whose performance (as well as his somewhat strange face with his deep set brooding, unemotional eyes that seem to stare all the time) is remarkable.

Getting to the story’s conclusion was so compelling for me that once again I binged, which is definitely not a good habit. But once you start this thriller my guess is that you too will fall under its spell.

 

2016, Acorn TV, Addiction, Arson, British Mystery Series, Complicated, Contract Killing, Corruption, Crime, Detective, Divorce, Drugs, Extramarital Affair, Father-daughter relations, Forensics, Illegitimate Child, Mother-daughter relations, Murder Investigation, Police Corruption, Police Culture, Suspense

The Level (2016)

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From IMDB:

A police detective finds herself at the centre of the most dangerous case of her life when she is seconded on to the investigation into the murder of a drugs trafficker. What nobody around her knows is that she is the missing witness that the police and the killer are searching for.

From Acorn TV you can stream the six episodes of this one-season British detective series.

Acting is good. Plot gets a bit more complicated with each episode, enough so that you might have to work somewhat to remember each of the many characters. As the plot progressed Kathy and I had to keep changing our choice for the guilty party.  And just who is the bent cop?

We recognize some of the faces:

  • Rob James-Collier, who plays Kevin, was James the butler in “Downton Abbey”.
  • Joe Absolom, who plays Shay Nash,  was Al Large (the son) in “Doc Martin”.

COMPLAINT: Probably because the writers were hoping for another season of “The Level”, the sixth episode has an ending that for me was disappointing. Still there was some satisfaction in that at least something good happened.

Consider watching this not-too-violent, intelligent, well-written one-season detective series.

 

2016, Big Pharma, British Mystery Series, Conspiracy, Contract Killing, Detective, Divorce, Eccentric Detective, Extramarital Affair, Harmful Medicine, International thriler, Made For TV, Medical Theme, Mental Illness, Mother-son relations, Murder Investigation, Netflix Streaming, Police Culture, Psychiatrists, Psychological Drama, Suicide, Suspense, Uncategorized

Paranoid (2016)

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From IMDB:

The murder of a female GP in a rural playground in front of numerous witnesses draws a group of detectives into an ever-darkening mystery that takes them across Europe, aided by mysterious notes sent by the “Ghost Detective”.

Netflix originated this so-far-one-season eight episode British detective series. Wife Kathy and I anxiously streamed each episode. However, if you read some of the 115 viewer reviews you will find tremendously varying opinions.

Basically a woman is murdered in plain daylight in a children’s playground and it takes 8 episodes to learn why and who. Along the way we meet a smarmy psychiatrist, a nervous wreck of a policeman, an uncontrollably outspoken policewoman, a Quaker woman, and lots of other characters with problems. If you liked “Happy Valley”, you may well enjoy this series.

Some reviewers hated the troubled characters, especially the policeman Bobby. But cringing at his  behavior just added to the attraction to the plot.

IMDB gives you the list of actors. Most notable are:

  • Indira Varma is the somewhat wacky policewoman. She played Ellaria Sand in “Game of Thrones”.
  • Michael Maloney is the psychiatrist. Because he so often plays suspicious characters, every time I see him I think “here comes the villain”.
  • Robert Glenister, the nervous cop,  appears just about everywhere in British TV series. He was Owen Preece in “Vera”.

For us this series was a pleasant and compelling discovery, although seemingly not to everyone’s taste.

1154, Abduction, Acorn TV, Adultery, Ambitious Dirty Tricks, Bloody scenes, British, British History, Bullying, Conspiracy, Contract Killing, Could Be Hard To Watch, Father-son relations, Grisly, Mayhem, Military, Mother-son relations, Murder, Prison, Religious Theme, Revenge, Sex Scenes, Suspense, Torture, True Story, Unscrupulous drive to power, Violent, War

Plantagenets (1154-1399)

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From Acorn TV:

Out of the chaos, darkness, and violence of the Middle Ages, one family seizes control of England, holding onto power and ruthlessly crushing all competition for more than 300 years. They are the Plantagenets.

If you subscribe to Acorn TV and are a fan of British history, you may well love this 4 episode series streamable from Acorn TV.  The title of the series is really “Britain’s Bloodiest Dynasty”. Each episode lasts 45 minutes.  Contents are as follows:

  • Henry II who kills Becket.
  • Henry III battles Simon de Montfort.
  • Edward II lets his obsessions lead him to ruin.
  • Richard II puts down the Peasant Revolt and launches a reign of terror until his cousin Henry Bolinbroke defeats him to become Henry IV the first of the Lancaster dynasty in 1399.

So think of the Plantagenets as running from 1150 to 1400. They spoke French (except when the vicious Richard II lied to the Peasant Revolt in English). Henry IV was the first king in 300 years (that is to say, after the Norman conquest of 1066) to use English.

These episodes are more than mere lectures. Because they are dramatized they become more memorable. Nothing presented is fictional. Children should probably not watch these episodes because the Plantagents were ruthless savages that used torture and murder to achieve their ambitious ends.

Stories as chilling as they are fascinating.

 

2002, Assisted Suicide, Contract Killing, Detective, Forensics, Murder Investigation, Plot Twist, Serial Killer, Suspense, Terminal Disease

Killing Emmett Young (2002)

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From Amazon Prime:

Detective Emmett Young (Scott Wolf) is determined to rid Philadelphia of a psychotic serial killer.

One hour and 44 minutes of twists, turns, and near misses that will keep you pinned to your seat. Streams from Amazon Prime.

Scott Wolf plays the young detective. Although I can find no mention of Scott Wolf in association with “The Good Wife”,  I am convinced he played the young lawyer that kept jumping law firms.  Nonetheless he has an impressive resume.

Originally this film was called “Emmett’s Mark” whose IMDB writeup states:

In order to avoid the debilitating effects of a terminal illness, a young detective orders a hit on himself.

At any rate the entire film is a series of chagrining twists of fate that are maddening to watch but compelling.

One of the villains in this story is none other than Gabriel Byrne a con man who takes out Emmett’s own contract to kill himself, i.e. Emmett, so that he does not have to linger in a fatal disease.

Highly recommended suspenseful detective story.