Ellis (serial)

Season 1

British TV drama where DCI Ellis is a London ringer who is sent to outlying districts when the locals are ill equipped to manage a particularly big case. She is brilliant, eccentric, and dogged in her pursuit of truth. She is sent in, and so rarely welcomed, and battles through it all to find the culprit. Her discovered help in the first case (DS Harper) becomes her go-to assistant for the rest of the season and their ongoing interactions, working relationship and discovery of each other is also a slow burn. Fantastic.

4 stars (out of 5)

Renoir (serial)

Season 1-10

French police procedural with Candice Renoir as the protagonist. She is a detective in the crime division and has been recently been appoint Commander and team leader in Sete. She is taking the job after 10 years away from the force to raise a family and follow her husband in his job. She finds the team was promised to Antoine, so tension is high from the start. And Candice is a eccentric detective, so her methods are effective yet strange. 

This is a 10 year series, and as the team evolves and develops chemistry, it is an absolute pleasure to partake. A combination of her investigative brilliance, her ongoing imposter syndrome in life and the struggles of everyone with personal and professional stress. I love that the stressors are real feeling, and not hyper exaggerated for dramatic effect. Makes the whole thing hold together. And since the series went off the air as planned, it has a really well done wrap up. Highly recommend.

5 stars (out of 5) 

No Offence (serial)

Season 1-3

British police procedural that gives definite The Wire vibes. Set in the grit of Manchester, the DCI, DS, and DI are all women who run the show and are brilliant police. The plot for season one follows a series of murders of young women with Downs Syndrome as the through thread. In fact, there are not really many disconnected cases or storylines in each episode. But somehow each does hold together as an individual unit. Season 2 digs into human trafficking and the local criminal families and 3 jumps to a political storyline (with a mayoral race as central). DI Deering is the brilliant boss who is always one step ahead and willing to take a risk when necessary. And when the risk blows up, she and her team pivot quickly to still be one step ahead (of both the criminals and their own bosses). Really well done. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Patience (serial)

This is the British adaptation of the French series Astrid. The storyline follows protagonist Patience Evans, a young, autistic woman who works in criminal records as an archivist/researcher for the police. Her (now deceased) father was a police detective and she is a puzzle hound. Turns out she is exceptional in connecting disparate clues to put together cases. I really loved the French series, and this is also good, but different. Patience is slightly less severely autistic than Astrid, has a different relationship with her boss (who changes between season 1 and 2), and the boyfriend is definitely more realistic (meaning more clunky with relationship). Somehow the differences between the two seem to be the difference between French and British police procedurals in general. French more austere, where the fact that Raphael is a bit rogue is both counter point to Astrid and a bit of the story itself. The British version, rogue seems to be more the norm, and the fact that Patience is less severe means that there is not nearly as much tension in the relationship/autism angle. Even neurodivergent seems typical. 

4 stars (out of 5)

The Wagner Method (serial)

Season 1-4

French TV police procedural where the key team is protagonist Cesár Wagner (hypochondriac police captain),  Dr. Beaumont (forensic pathologist - unrequited love interest) and Dr. Weiss (personal physician - unrequited love interest). The three develop a fabulous friendship while dealing with Wagner's ailments and solving murders in Strasbourg. I love that the feared ailment of the day always contributes somehow to the case. I love how Wagner's background as Strasbourg elite plays out. I love how the history of France in WWII and the Nazi occupation is still so fresh and prescient in the culture of the show. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Mademoiselle Holmes (serial)

Season 2

I liked this more than Season 1, mostly because I realized that Holmes is Raphael from Astrid and Watson/Sami is Aurélien from Munch. And because the characters are set from the first season, we jump right into the quirk and don't need to slow roll the development. Holmes continues to solve cases, needs the emotional support of Sami and kid gloves from her co-workers. But she is the key member of the team instead of a side element that needs to force her way in. Maybe more traditional police procedural, but more fun because of it. 

5 stars (out of 5)

Carpe Diem (serial)

Season 1

Set in Nice, protagonist Tom is just released from a 17-year prison stint for killing his wife. While in prison, he got his law degree and is now hanging his shingle while investigating to find his wife's actual killer. He is a charming rogue, getting into the good grace of the local detective, and taking on and winning cases for the underrepresented. He has a fun team of quirky and a family he is trying to figure out. Lincoln Lawyer meets Munch. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Phantom Lawyer (serial)

Season 1

Legal K-drama with new lawyer I-rang hanging out his own shingle. Turns out it is because his father was a famously corrupt prosector and no-one would hire him. In his new practice, he sets up his office in a former shaman's space, and it turns out I-rang can see the ghosts that the shaman had called back. So I-rang's clients become the ghosts that need resolution before passing on. It's a 16 episode season, with about 2 episodes per ghost client. And true to K-drama form, there is a slow burn romance. There are several small inconsistencies throughout the season in terms of how ghosts interact with the world, but overall this is a fun and heartfelt family drama and legal drama. 

4 stars (out of 5)

My Life is Murder (serial)

Season 4-5

In this season (season 1-3 here), Alexa and her friends continue to "assist the police" in Auckland with suspicious or cold cases. It's clever and fun and "low thrill" in that there are no serial killer cases or false cliffhanger stress. A pleasant watch. 

4 stars (out of 5)

The Intern (serial)

Seasons 1-5

A French television drama following Constance Meyer, a middle aged, second career trainee judge. In the French system, the judges are the investigators who stand between the police and the prosecutors. So basically this is a detective show. Meyer is insightful, uses her life experience to bring a different lens to her investigations, and pushes the boundaries just a bit. She also fills that mother role with her colleagues, who all seem to need it. It is a fun series, not super dark like the British or Scandinavian murder-mysteries tend to be. More like Munch or New Tricks.

4 stars (out of 5)

The Puzzle Lady (serial)

A one season, amateur detective series from PBS (via BBC). Phyllis Logan (whom you may know as Downton Abbey's Mrs. Hughes) plays Cora Felton. Cora is the British Will Shortz, and has moved to a small village with her niece to get away from the limelight. Turns out she is a decent, if nosy, detective as she helps the marginally competent local police. Similar in tone to New Tricks or Shakespeare & Hathaway. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Nr 24

Set during the Nazi occupation of Norway, this is the story of Gunnar Sønsteby, a Norwegian resistance fighter/leader. The plot mechanism is Gunnar as an old man giving a lecture / telling his history to a room full of school children. As he tells his story, 80% of the film is flashback to the events of the 1940's. With the telling, most of it is straight forward resistance warfare (sabotage, who do you trust, etc.). But what makes this film outstanding is the interactions in the present, as Gunnar reflects on his history, what he is willing to talk about, and the questions that the students ask. When is it appropriate to be violent? What is different about "war time"? Did you ever consider nonviolent resistance, like Ghandi? Gunnar's response that Ghandi never faced the Nazis is not sufficient for one particularly interested kid. When the kid says something to the effect of  "it seems like nonviolent resistance is more important in that situation", the filmmakers give us time to think. Wait, is it? Or is that just naiveté? It also struck me how daily and personal that threat was for Norwegians, and a that a real resistance grew in opposition. Gunnar telling his story to modern kids (2 or 3 generations removed) is an important part of a society struggling with threat, violence, resistance and freedom. Collectively in the US we haven't experienced a daily and personal threat since the 1800's, too many generations removed to have a connection to the moral dilemmas and trauma, to be able to have an experience informed discussion of what resistance really requires. 

5 stars (out of 5)

Mantis

Set in the legendary Gil Boksoon world, there is a shakeup in the assassin world heirarchy and young upstart Mantis makes his move. That is all I got, I didn't finish it. Which is surprising since I liked Kill Boksoon so much. But since it fell flat, I have to give it...

1 star (out of 5)

Munch (serial)

Season 1-4

A French law-drama where the central character is a defense attorney (Munch) who skirts rules to defend her (always innocent) clients. She is persistent, annoying, etc., but also heartfelt in her belief in her clients. She is mentoring the up and coming (a trust fund kid turned lawyer, her investigator, her receptionist) and working out her family relationships as well. Turns out to be the Paris equivalent of Lincoln Lawyer. Quite fun. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Blanca (series)

This Italian series (one season - 10 episodes) features Blanca, a 20-something blind woman staring an internship at the Genoa police department. She has to deal with all the dismissiveness and stereotyping you would expect, but she makes herself useful on cases, to the point that her detective supervisor begins to trust her. In parallel, Blanca is drawn into an investigation of her own history and who killed her older sister (an event that caused Blanca's blindness). Is there such a thing as a Rom-Thrill? This is it. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Astrid (serial)

Season 5

In this season, the running theme is centered around a series of Astrid's epileptic seizures. They seem to be triggered by something and so she begins to investigate her own history / memory.  Tetsu loses his funding (and therefore visa), a childhood aquaintance comes back into her life, and Raphaelle is pregnant. All traumatic events that could contribute. This season thread is woven through the individual cases of each episode and we are even treated to young Astrid in flashback. Great storylines and I love the 8-10 episode seasons that is the new norm for seasons. Not so long that I lose interest -- good addictive encouragement, keep them wanting more :)

5 stars (out of 5)

Maigret (serial)

Set in Paris, Inspector Maigret is a rising-star detective in charge of the major crimes division. Interestingly, this French setting has everyone speaking english... Maigret is a lone wolf detective who likes to play his cards close. He has people on his team he trusts, but others he doesn't. But he is politically astute and can navigate the halls of power. He also has a personal history which comes into play over the course of the season. In many ways, this is a prototypical dark, English police procedural. And it is good. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Mademoiselle Holmes (serial)

A nice little french series where Charlie Holmes is the great granddaughter of Sherlock. She is working as a police detective, but doesn't really have the confidence of her captain. She is also battling bipolar disorder and detests the effect of her meds on her thinking. She is accompanied by a pathologist intern in the Watson role. Quirky and fun, with a running plot line of exploring this historical connection with the famous Holmes. 

4 stars (out of 5)

The Art Detectives (serial)

British series following the Heritage Crimes Unit. Actually, to start the unit is one person DI Mick Palmer. In episode one, he picks up an assistant in DC Shazia Malik, and the two of them solve any type of crime involving Art. They get called to any type of crime, but there always seems to be a murder. Whether it is paintings, music, antiquities, etc. Palmer and Malik navigate their newfound partnership and complementary skills to solve the case. Not a super-dark, serial-killer type of police drama that often comes out of Britain. I quite enjoyed this. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Counterstrike

A Mexican Special Forces team encounters a drug cartel boss with a vendetta against Mexican Special Forces. This is an excellent portrayal of how war and violence are lose-lose scenarios. We are supposed to say the good guys won since only two of them die vs scores of the bad guys. But there is no win. Short term or long. 

3 stars (out of 5)