THE HOSPITAL MURDERS (Sjukhusmorden) involves our heroes in a mysterious death of a hospital patient suffering from motor neurone disease (Elisabeth Nordkvist Bolme), her son with a past history of mental instability (Mårten Svedberg) and a doctor with a shady past (Johan Holmberg) who also meets a sticky end. Shot in and around a busy hospital, Stephan Apelgren's production shows how difficult it can be for police officers to investigate a case where patient confidentiality can be involved.
Of more interest, perhaps, in this episode are the various subplots. Gunvald Larsson (Mikael Persbrandt) suffers from permanent headaches that affect him to such an extent that he cannot help but insult young investigator Ayda Çetin (Elmira Arıkan). Beck (Peter Haber) tries to pursue a nascent love-affair with pathologist Andrea Bergstrom (Åsa Karlin) but discovers at the end that his scruples keep getting in the way. He also has a series of exchanges with his epicurean neighbor Grannen (Ingvar Hirdwall) whose neck is enclosed in a brace, restricting his freedom of movement, but is nonetheless looking forward to the prospect of a cruise where he can look for new girlfriends. Beck also has a brief exchange in a café with daughter Inger (Rebecka Hemse) with whom he has a difficult relationship, even though the two are obviously close to one another.
BECK covers some of the clichés of police drama - for example, the mixture of dedication and cynicism permeating the protagonists' lives - but nonetheless retains a certain integrity. This is chiefly due to the quality of the central performances; a shot at the end, showing the two officers sitting morosely on a park bench, then slowly moving towards one another for emotional consolation is especially memorable.
