Category Archives: TV Reporter

2021, Abduction, Acceptable for teenagers, Bloody scenes, Brother-Sister relations, Bullying, Clever Plot, Computer hacking, Corny at times, Detective, Extramarital Affair, False Accusations, Father-son relations, Gay theme, Identity Theft, Impersonation, Kidnapping, Marital Infidelity, Mildly Violent, Murder, Murder Investigation, Netflix Streaming, Personal Betrayal, Plot twists, Suspense, TV news industry, TV Reporter, Unscrupulous reporter

Click Bait (2021)

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From Netflix:

Pia Brewer races to find Nick when he appears in an online video, bloodied and holding a sign that reads: “At 5 million views I die.”

From Netflix you can stream the 8 episodes of this mystery thriller. Each episode lasts about 45 minutes.

Who kidnapped and killed Nick?  At first he is shown in an online video, bloodied and holding a sign that reads: “At 5 million views I die.”  As the 5 million viewers constantly view the video he holds other signs saying he abused women or that he killed a woman.

Each episode is from the viewpoint of one of the people involved in the plot such a family members, a detective, and an unscrupulous reporter.  There are several plot twists. Just when you think you know what is going on,  some new game changing fact comes to light. Along the way many people suffer loss and betrayal.

Some editing would have removed a bit of unnecessary footage.  At times the plot veers toward the maudlin.  Still,  it is a clever shape-shifting plot.

2012, Acceptable for teenagers, Alcoholism, Ambitious Dirty Tricks, Anxiety Attacks, Brother-Sister relations, Career Competition, Character Driven, Corruption, Could Be Sad, Cover-up, Danish, Danish Politics, Danish TV series, Depression, Divorce, DO NOT MISS, Drama, Embezzlement, Ethical struggles, Extramarital Affair, Failing Marriage, Family Conflict, Father-daughter relations, Father-son relations, Husband leaves wife, Love Story, Love Triangle, Marital Infidelity, Mental Illness, Mother-daughter relations, Mother-son relations, Netflix Streaming, Newspaper Culture, NOT violent, Personal Betrayal, Political Intrigue, Politicians, Psychiatrists, Revenge, Romance, Thought provoking, TV Culture, TV news industry, TV Reporter, Well developed plot, Womanizing

Borgen (2012)

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From IMDB:

A political drama about a prime minister’s rise to power, and how power changes a prime minister.

From Netflix you can stream 3 seasons of this Danish political drama series. Each season consists of 10 one-hour episodes.  Recent news hints that there might someday be a fourth season. Danish with English subtitles.

In Danish, Borgen, lit. ’The Castle’, is the informal name of Christiansborg Palace where all three branches of Danish government reside: the Parliament, the Prime Minister’s Office, and the Supreme Court, and is often used as a figure of speech for the Danish government.

In the very first episode we see  Birgitte Nyborg become Prime Minister of Denmark.  This first episode is OK but does not begin to compare with the gut-punching episodes that follow.  Can a woman “have it all” is one of the issues.  Birgitte comes off as a morally upright and  sincere woman steering her way through the compromising pressures of political life.   She will pay a personal price for her success.

Surrounding Birgitte are a multitude of characters meaningful to the plot,  some praiseworthy and quite a few sneaky , malicious,  ambitious “villains.”  Quite a few of those characters are members of the news media.  All these many characters are involved throughout the series and often have their own personal stories to tell.

Each episode usually centers around a theme:  health care, peace negotiations,  and many others.  Don’t expect each episode to have a happy ending.  After most episodes Kathy and I exclaim “WOW, how do the writers maintain such consistent excellence?”

DO NOT MISS!

2011, Abduction, Abuse of Women, Acceptable for teenagers, Accidental Death, Action sequences, Adopted child, Arson, Attempted Suicide, Cancer theme, Child abuse, Child Molestation, Corrupt lawyers, Detective, DIY Ending, DO NOT MISS, Dysfunctional Lives, Ends in Cliff Hanger, Ethical struggles, Failing Marriage, Family Conflict, Father-daughter relations, Gritty, Illegitimate Child, Irish, Irish Gaelic, Journalist, Lawyers, MHz Choice, Mother-daughter relations, Murder, Pedophilia, Police Corruption, Rape, Serial Killer, Suspense, TV Reporter, Unmarried mother, Upsetting ending, Violent

Corp + Anam (2011)

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From MHz Choice:

Gritty Irish-language drama chronicling the difficult professional and intense personal life of Cathal Mac Iarnáin, a tenacious TV crime reporter who is obsessed with pursuing the story behind the story. But as single-minded as he is about uncovering the truth, he is often too busy chasing stories to notice that the world of crime hits closer to home every day.

From MHz Choice you can stream two seasons of this intense Irish drama. Each season consists of 4 episodes. Each episode lasts about 50 minutes.  Irish Gaelic with English subtitles.

“Gut-punching” is the most apt adjective I can apply to these eight episodes.  “Corp & Anam” is Gaelic for “Body and Soul”.

One critic labeled the reporter Cathal as unscrupulous.  Each of the 8 stories centers around some serious injustice.  No matter who gets hurt Cathal is determined to get the scoop first.  On certain occasions he is not above breaking the law to get the story.  In every case he goes out on a sometimes self-destructive limb to broadcast the story on Irish television.  Most often it is his own family which gets hurt because, as with many police detectives, his cell phone often interrupts his family life.

For this series I have created a new category “DIY Ending” which I could have used earlier for many other series.  “Do It Yourself Ending” applies to an ending in which most of the groundwork has been laid to reach a satisfying conclusion in which justice reigns and the bad guys get their punishment but in which you do not get the satisfaction of seeing those final details played out. This category especially applies to the last story of season 2 which uses two episodes 3 and 4 to tell the whole story.  This particular story leaves Cathal in danger of losing his career.

DO NOT MISS!

2020, Acceptable for teenagers, Action sequences, Child abuse, Child Molestation, Complicated, Conspiracy, Corruption, DNA, Family Conflict, Mother-son relations, Murder, Murder Investigation, Netflix Streaming, Norwegian, Norwegian Crime Story, Norwegian Detective, Orphanage, Pedophilia, Physical child abuse, Police Corruption, Police cover-up, Police Culture, Police Investigation, Police Psychologist, Psychological Drama, Rape, Suspense, TV Reporter, Violent

The Valhalla Murders (2020)

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From IMDB:

Police profiler Arnar is sent back home from Oslo to his native Iceland to investigate the country’s first serial killer case. He teams up with the local senior cop Kata.

From Netflix you can stream the 8 episodes of this Norwegian detective series. Each episode lasts about 45 minutes.

Orphanages in which the boys are sexually molested is a theme that has been used several times in other dramas.  In that sense there is a sameness to this series that seems a bit copycat. It takes 8 episodes to find the predator, deal with police bureaucracy,  and fight a conspiracy to cover up the murders and rapes.  Expect at times to suspend disbelief:  injured cops heroically save lives,  TV commentators miraculously save the day, etc.  Sometimes I am happy that a too convenient solution relieves the tension.

Along the way the divorced Kata has trouble with her son while the unusually taciturn Arnar must fight his own personal demons.

Despite any flaws, the clever obstacles created by the bad guys, the personal stories, and the action sequences kept me glued.