As this ten part Belgian drama opens Kato Hoeven, a young woman wakes up in room 108 of the eponymous Hotel Beau Séjour. She has blood in her hair and has no memory of the events that led to her being there. When she gets up she sees a body in the bath... her own! She leaves the hotel and soon discovers that a handful of people can see her; her father, step-sister, the local police chief, a female friend and the police chief's son who has recently been released from a psychiatric hospital. They are all people she was somehow connected to but why these particular people can see her and other people equally close to her can't isn't immediately obvious, either to the viewer or to Kato. Given the seriousness of crime the investigation is led by two officers from the Federal Police. Kato observes the investigation and tries to get those who can interact with her to help them... unfortunately not all of them are that keen to see the case solved; most notably the chief of the local police. As the series progresses Kato learns more about what happened to her and dark secrets emerge.
I really liked the central premise of this series and thought it was effectively handled. It doesn't waste time with the technicalities of Kato's new existence; it just gets on with the story. The mystery unravels at a gentle pace but never drags. The more we learn about the various characters the more suspects and possible motives arise. Given that Kato is dead one might not expect there to be much sense of danger but there is; those who can see her can touch and thus harm her and various events and revelations put other people in danger too. The cast is impressive; most notably Lynn Van Royen as Kato. The rest of the cast is solid; especially those who must act as though they can't see or hear Kato; I don't think I spotted any of them even glancing at her. Overall a gripping series that kept me guessing; I had no idea who the killer was right up to the final reveal. I'd definitely recommend this to fans of murder mysteries looking for something rather different.
These comments are based on watching the series in Flemish with English subtitles.
I really liked the central premise of this series and thought it was effectively handled. It doesn't waste time with the technicalities of Kato's new existence; it just gets on with the story. The mystery unravels at a gentle pace but never drags. The more we learn about the various characters the more suspects and possible motives arise. Given that Kato is dead one might not expect there to be much sense of danger but there is; those who can see her can touch and thus harm her and various events and revelations put other people in danger too. The cast is impressive; most notably Lynn Van Royen as Kato. The rest of the cast is solid; especially those who must act as though they can't see or hear Kato; I don't think I spotted any of them even glancing at her. Overall a gripping series that kept me guessing; I had no idea who the killer was right up to the final reveal. I'd definitely recommend this to fans of murder mysteries looking for something rather different.
These comments are based on watching the series in Flemish with English subtitles.