Category Archives: Swiss detective

Arne Dahl (2011)

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!

 

 

 

The Undertaker (2013)

From IMDB:

A detective leaves the force to take over the family business as an undertaker at the same time as he is being investigated for murder. His close encounters with corpses and his earlier police training lead him to see things some of his ex-colleagues miss and he investigates the crimes he encounters in an unofficial capacity often to the dismay of he official police.

From MHz Choice:

MYSTERY | SWITZERLAND | GERMAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES |
Luc Conrad used to be a police detective. Now he’s an undertaker, whose job is usually to comfort and console the bereaved. But as soon as Luc starts to suspect foul play, his inner sleuth takes over – and so do the headaches for his ex, Inspector Anna-Maria Giovanoli.

“Der Bestatter” is the German title which means “The Undertaker”.

Four seasons can be streamed from MHz Choice. Each episode is about one hour. Season 1 offers 4 episodes, whereas the following 3 seasons each offer 6 episodes.

Although these episodes are not grim, not violent, and are fairly easy viewing, nonetheless from time to time a body or face can be hard to look at (for example, a burning victim).  Luc has a young male assistant Fabio who can only be described as weird.

For another review visit previously.tv in which we learn “the Alemannic Swiss German dialect spoken in Aarau is not understandable to most Germans.”

Easy to watch.