The best thing on TV is Danish
Denmark’s Forbrydelsen, “The Crime” but called “The Killing” in English, is fast achieving the almost universal acclaim of The Wire — every TV pundit in the UK seems to love it. It can never be The Wire, of course, but if you like proper grown-up crime drama, cast your eyes across the Kattegat and watch The Killing.
AMC’s version wasn’t that bad until they utterly ruined the series with a stupid, craven ending. Forbrydelsen I ended properly and season 2, now showing on the BBC, starts an entirely new story. Sarah Lund — whose Faroe Island sweaters have now kicked off an unlikely fashion craze — is boot-deep in an investigation involving the Danish army, political conspiracy, and a series of nasty murders. With Sweden’s Wallander also serving up a morbid portion of Scandinavian dysfunction and Sherlock ready to return to the BBC, European crime drama is very good right now.
Posted on December 6, 2011, in Television. Bookmark the permalink. 4 Comments.
I have been meaning to start watching this. It is on my LoveFilm list but thanks for the reminder Ronan.
“AMC’s version wasn’t that bad until they utterly ruined the series with a stupid, craven ending.”
It sucked long before the finale. The LA Times blog did a good job summing up all of the ridiculous coincidences that happened during the investigation in order to sway suspicion towards or away from one suspect or another.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2011/05/the-killing-recap-what-a-coincidence.html
It was near impossible to get “Forbrydelsen” here in the states until recently. Here it is on Amazon:
The Killing – Complete Season 1 – 5-DVD Box Set ( Forbrydelsen (Forbrytelsen) ) ( The Killing – Complete Season One ) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - United Kingdom ]
I’ve heard the first season’s climax (the revealing of the killer) left many fans puzzled and disappointed, though.
Ronan, I completely agree. The Danish Killing is so good. The first season was excellent and I’ve been enjoying the second season just as much. I was interested to read this week in the Telegraph that David Cameron has this show at the top of his list as well.
I enjoyed the American version of the show but was disappointed by the ending of the season. I tried watching one episode of the Danish version (with subtitles) and thought it amazing how similar they were. Sort of hard to watch, though, having seen it already. I just love the two cop characters.