Besides the various series that I mentioned enjoying in my last post (Not much happening lately… ), there is another great series, also from Sweden like “Mother Is Wrong,” via the PBS Masterpiece subscription option on the Amazon Prime Video streaming service.
The English title of the series is “Before We Die.” It’s a very messed-up police procedural thriller that centers on Hanna, a woman detective, who is neither young nor beautiful by TV standards.
She’s also not really great with people. She has alienated her son by landing him in prison for two years, nor is she greatly admired by her colleagues.
Allusions are made at the beginning of the season to her demotion from Organized Crime to Financial Crime, which the other detectives scoff at, saying she is just sorting through ATM receipts.
By the end of the season, she has acquitted herself with both her son and the Stockholm Police Department’s Division of Organized Crime.
On the other hand, the Croatian crime family who killed her lover and former police colleague in Organized Crime don’t fare very well at all.
Lots of character development and plot twists, so I highly recommend this show. It ends in such a way that practically guarantees a second season. I, for one, can’t wait!
Thanks, Timi. I am still navigating Hulu and Netflix – so much to watch.
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That’s for sure, Larry! Lately I think I’ve been going a bit overboard and need to ration my screen time more rigorously! 😛
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Sounds good! I don’t have Amazon Prime, but there’s another streaming service here that provides a lot of Scandinavian movies, so it may appear on that.
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Yes, do look for it there! I would also recommend the other Swedish series, “Mother Is Wrong.” Although the premise might seem a bit sappy, it’s actual a taut series with an ensemble cast and unpredictable, but completely rational, plot twists. I didn’t guess the ending until it actually ended! Could the Swedes be the masters of this form, perhaps?
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Oh, actually “Mother Is Wrong” is a French series, not a Swedish one. But perhaps European and Scandinavian makers of these types of police procedural thrillers have a more nuanced perspective than the typical American one.
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Yes, they do. I watch comparatively few American series, preferring British, European, and Scandinavian ones. Even though some of the story lines are really quite bizarre, they can carry them off.
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So true!
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