I thought we put that one away

Continuing my trip down The Guardian's Top 50 TV Shows of 2021.  

#41 : The Hunt For A Killer

If you were worrying that Scandi noir was going to be outpaced by the dubious charms of the true crime fad, relax. This series about a real-life missing girl from the 1980s managed to combine the style and drama of Wallander with the queasy complicity of contemporary crime shows.

I like a bit of Scandi noir (The Bridge in particular is really good, with The Tunnel actually doing a very reasonable job of updating it to be over here) so I am looking forward to this, although slightly perplexed because it didn't feel like the sort of thing The Guardian would go for.  I also have concerns whether a real-life case would have the kind of twists that tend to make these things so enjoyable - but let's see shall we?

And it's not really just about the one real-life case - it acts as the basis for the season, but it weaves in other bits and pieces as well and it tells a good story.  It nudges you in one direction and then enjoys pulling the rug or making you realise you're heading down a blind alley.  Or an alley which involves a murderer, but not the actual murderer you're looking for.  It's changes tack somewhat for the last couple of episodes where they close in on the murderer of interest and then try to prove he is their guy - all in all, it ties the package up quite nicely and is all very watchable along the way.

So yes, it is watchable but at the same time, it's all very police procedural clichéd.  I would also say it's not really very well acted - a lot of it is very wooden, but in some ways that just adds to the real-life vibe.  One notable exception here is Lotten Roos who plays Monica Olhed (the psychologist cliché) very well.  I'm also going to call out Hakan Bengtsen who plays Erik Johansson (the slightly rough diamond cliché) for looking very like John Bishop, which I found very distracting.  It also amused me that the chief policeman (the "too busy playing politics to solve crimes" cliché) was called Krister Berg.

It's not particularly well shot either if I'm being honest, but that doesn't necessarily detract either.  It also doesn't half jump about in time - and very abruptly too.  Two characters will be having a conversation and then "ONE YEAR LATER" will suddenly pop up on the screen.  It does however do a good job in conveying how frustrating police work must be with the public being so damn random and unreliable (and murderers).  Oh, and they have to deal with HR departments as well (they prefer dealing with murderers).

So - what did I think of it?  I enjoyed it, but it's not really "great" telly - it's a pretty average police story which ticks all the usual boxes using all the usual characters, told in a perfectly acceptable, if slightly ramshackle way.  Yes, it deserves some credit for being unsensational, but only some - I don't really understand why The Guardian was quite so keen on it.  Don't get me wrong - I did enjoy it, but I can't really say you should go out of your way to watch it.

#40 - Dazzlingly ambitious
#42 - Mad, but enjoyable