(TV SERIES) Young Wallander Season 1 - Another Re-Imagining Prequel of Popular Character

Few days ago, a new series was released on Netflix and I was intrigued by the brief synopsis. Obviously a very short 6 episodes for the first season was also main attraction, especially since I wanted to watch other series/movies during the weekend. Now I'll just get into it then.

Brief Story Line

Set in the city of Malmo, Sweden, a young rookie police officer Kurt Wallander (Adam Pålsson) was drawn into a case which happened near his home in the area filled with immigrants. The detectives who were assigned to the case were Superintendent Hemberg (Richard Dillane) and his partner Frida Rask (Leanne Best - The Woman in Black: Angel of Death etc). Due to his unique perspective, Kurt was asked by Hemberg to join in the investigation while leaving his unit and partner Reza (Yasen Atur).

During his investigation, Kurt got acquainted with a young woman named Mona (Elise Chappel) who was passionate about saving immigrants. She was supported by a wealthy billionaire Gustav Munck (Alan Emrys). Kurt also have to deal with an immigrant gang led by Bash (Charles Mnene) in his neighborhood.

As he continued his work, Kurt found that there were a lot of things and people involved in the case which might be more than what he bargained for. So how would the case conclude? Find them all in this mystery drama series.

End of Brief Story Line

The series title Young Wallander gave a hint that it would be the story of a well known person in his young age. I thought this would be a prequel series (probably a bit similar to the new MacGyver series). I got to admit that I am not familiar with Kurt Wallander name, so there were quite a lot of reference to the famous character that I was not aware of until I read more about him in the internet. Those of you who are just like me, may find it a bit challenging to grasp those references, so you could probably do it as I did, which was to enjoy the series as if it was a new one with a brand new character.

As a series focusing on investigation of a major case, this one was quite OK. I like the investigation process and also the struggle our lead character had to have in term of personal and work. It was interesting as well as intriguing. The revealing of some stuff were done in quite a good manner. Might not be very brilliant but entertaining enough. The story developed in a steady pace, not overly slow but not too rushed either. I also found the series tone quite dark, with very little humorous/light moment (there were probably only 2 or 3 scenes that brighten my mood). Most likely due to a very up to date topic about the high volume of immigrants in Sweden and its impact on all the people, that made the series felt serious & heavy. 

The cast here did a good job in portraying their characters. Of all the characters, I like Hemberg the most who was brilliantly portrayed by Richard Dillane. He was the type of superior that we would really love to have, very tough but could be accommodating and willing to listen to his subordinate. Some of the characters here were grey which also made the series interesting (except probably Reza who seemed to be the perfect man all around).

Duration of the episodes were pretty standard only around 40-50 minutes. So finishing 6 episodes did not take too much of time. Unfortunately though, the ending of this first season was not satisfying, especially since I was unsure whether there will be a second season, seeing the status at the time I wrote this post was "pending". You would know what I mean if you have watched it. There was no real favorite episode to me but if I had to choose, probably it was episode 3 with some high intensity. There were also a bit of action here and there, but certainly not the main attraction as the focus was on the investiagion.

As I have mentioned above, this series was based on the character Kurt Wallander, a popular Swedish police inspector created by Henning Mankell with more than 10 novels where he was the main protagonist. Kurt was portrayed in few TV series by some Swedish and even English actor Sir Kenneth Branagh. However, this was the first time he was portrayed at a young age which was a matter of creativity. Whether or not fans of this younger version could accept this remains to be seen. I myself did not bother too much, especially since I never saw him previously anyway. So if you are looking for a new mystery crime solving story set in Sweden (despite all conversation was done in English), with up to date reference, heavy topic and case but little actions, then you could give this a try. 

Mike's movie moments rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars