This Swedish crime drama doesn't have the intensity or bleakness of other Scandinavian hits like say, "The Killing" or even "Wallander", in fact think Swedish "Lou Grant" in the present day and you're close to the truth. This particular episode in fact took me all the way back to the 70's with the eponymous heroine reliving an old episode of "Police Woman" or "Charlie's Angels" by dressing up (or down) in a sort of wo-mankini to go after a sleazy young night-club owner who serially abuses his young female employees and goes too far with rape and murder on his mind. To be fair, I rather fancied that lead actress Malin Crepin looked distinctly uneasy in the part for this reason and confused me as to whether this was good or bad acting.
The story aimed for a little "Borgen"-esque political intrigue going all the way up to the Prime Minister, reminding me too that the newspaper angle is better served in that particular programme, but this strand failed to really convince while the background details to Anna's life again failed to tell us much other than that she appears to be married to a Swedish version of Hugh Grant and is obsessive about her work. There's also the strong sense of cliché in the depiction of some of her work colleagues, notably the fire-breathing editor and calculating, pragmatic publisher.
I personally think that these 90 minute long episodes could be quite easily cut to a more bite- sized 60 minutes but until they re-issue "Lou Grant" on DVD this is a palatable enough if hardly essential substitute.
The story aimed for a little "Borgen"-esque political intrigue going all the way up to the Prime Minister, reminding me too that the newspaper angle is better served in that particular programme, but this strand failed to really convince while the background details to Anna's life again failed to tell us much other than that she appears to be married to a Swedish version of Hugh Grant and is obsessive about her work. There's also the strong sense of cliché in the depiction of some of her work colleagues, notably the fire-breathing editor and calculating, pragmatic publisher.
I personally think that these 90 minute long episodes could be quite easily cut to a more bite- sized 60 minutes but until they re-issue "Lou Grant" on DVD this is a palatable enough if hardly essential substitute.