Vodník

The settings are strange. The initial interview takes place in what looks like a glass tent in the middle of a desert. We gradually learn that this is part of a futuristic-looking police station set in scorched fields whose crops must recently have been harvested. The murder takes place in a village whose residents and visitors are uniformly unattractive. The story is partly told in flashback to the communist times and that it happened before the revolution has a bearing on the plot.

There is a theme of parched heat throughout. The investigation takes place in what looks like a blisteringly hot summer the same as at the time of the murder. The washed-out colours as well as the camera's overexposure to the light add to a sense of oppressive drought. However, during some of the crucial parts of the series, the colours become garish.

The cold case team cannot arrest anyone - the statute of limitations has kicked in but they still investigate to clear up injustices. The female detective tasked with solving the matter uses intuition as much as evidence at first. She gradually breaks down barriers that have stood all this time to arrive at the truth. I don't want to get into spoiler territory, but it's pretty obvious who the real murderer is and was so from the first episode.

On the way to the denouement, family relationships are shattered, unpleasant truths emerge and reconciliations take place between some of the characters.

Yes, I watched till the end despite a certain straining of the storyline and some events that were hard to accept would have happened. I don't resent the time spent on this but I have seen better mini series and better Czech series.