TOP TV VIEWING OF 2022

Given a fallow year of viewing, both on TV and in cinemas, I did not easily compile a list of recommendations. However, in addition to Undercover 3 and Borgen — Power & Glory that I reviewed on TV Thursdays in 2022, you may appreciate the following:

NETFLIX

Borderliner (Norwegian) During a visit to his hometown, police detective Nickolai gets entangled in a questionable suicide that becomes a murder investigation. We also get entangled in this twisty drama about family dynamics that are rife with tension, secrets, cover-ups. In eight episodes we watch Nickolai struggling to balance loyalty to his family and partner with his professional duty and personal integrity. 

When I reviewed The Crown a few years ago, I wrote that scriptwriter Peter Morgan is not offering history lessons, just suggesting views of the Royal family and other notable individuals while recalling historic events through imagined conversations and scenes. We needn’t get bogged down in verisimilitude to grasp his story of a dysfunctional family. In season 5 the most moving scenes focus on marriages, looking at the compromises necessary for one to survive and the discord in another that leads to its demise.

Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey is a documentary set in Arizona, Utah and Texas about the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), a spin-off polygamous sect of mainstream Mormonism. The title of the miniseries is the motto coined by Rulon Jeffs, the Prophet and President (from 1985-2002) who used it to convey that women must practice absolute submissive obedience to their husband as a prerequisite to salvation. The prophet assigns husbands to women, while taking for himself any woman he wishes. At the time of Rulons’s death in 2002 at age 92, he had unconfirmed numbers of 20 to 67 wives and 65 children. His son Warren continues as the prophet even from prison where, since 2011, he’s serving a life sentence plus 20 years as a convicted felon on two counts of child sexual assault. Glen and I are flabbergasted that the FLDS (with an estimated 6,000-10,000 members) manages to commit polygamy and other misdeeds in contemporary USA. This riveting documentary epitomizes the idiom that truth is stranger than fiction.

The Unlikely Murderer (Swedish) is based on the murder of Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme, who was shot dead on a street in Stockholm in 1986. While the drama develops a convincing case against Stieg Engström as the prime suspect, the prosecution fails to gather sufficient evidence for a trial. The case closed in 2020, unsolved. In five episodes the series goes beyond the facts, becoming “two parallel shows about frail, showboating men of different stripes…  Its fine observations of male pride turned toxic – hits the mark.”

PRIME

Bosch: Legacy After adjusting to the (mis)casting of Titus Welliver as Bosch while getting attached to the secondary characters, we enjoyed seven seasons of this adaptation of Michael Connelly’s popular detective novels. In the first season of Legacy (yes, additional seasons will follow), Bosch has left the police force to become a private investigator. Chicago Tribune critic Nina Metz aptly writes: “Like its predecessor, Bosch: Legacy is aiming for moderately engaging but never mentally taxing. There’s something comforting about that — and there’s something comforting about the title character himself. Harry will always figure things out because he’s smart and diligent and he’s nobody’s fool.”

PBS MASTERPIECE + WALTER PRESENTS (through Prime subscription)

Before We Die (Swedish) is a crime drama featuring a compelling female detective, Hanna, who’s seen better days with her son (she nabs him for drug trafficking), her job (a younger boss pressures her to retire), and her love life (she’s involved with a married investigator). The series delivers hallmark Nordic noir: dark storylines and bleak urban settings. Binge worthy for sure. (We haven’t seen the British remake.)

Seaside Hotel (Danish) gave us several weeks of unadulterated pleasure, so absorbing is the period (1928 to post WWII), the marvellous cast of characters, the setting on Denmark’s North Jutland coast, the songs that complement the situations, and more. Nine seasons explore serious issues — collaboration with the Nazis, the plight of women, homophobia — but in a light-hearted tone. We witness the development, in some cases moral awakening, of recurring characters — mainly hotel guests and staff — as the plot lines advance through the years.

The Silence of Water (Italian) is a murder mystery solved in a context of family drama. Set in a small coastal village near Trieste, where all lives intersect, the show features a cast of good looking characters, some of them likeable. Although several scenes smack of a soap opera, we cared about the homicide detective Louisa and to a lesser extent the Italian cop Andrea so watched the series to its resolution. It provided ample suspense throughout; Glen and I were guessing different prime suspects to the final (8th) episode.

Sins of our Fathers (Polish) The title says it all: decisions taken years earlier by a former police commissioner and a former Polish Mafia criminal now surface to endanger their daughters — one a police officer, the other a law student. The series is grim viewing, typical of most Eastern European dramas, and sometimes confusing, but superb acting plus the classic element of suspense make it good viewing. 

Top Dog (Swedish) In an unusual partnership, a middle-aged crime-gang member Teddy from Södertälje collaborates with a young attorney Emily from Stockholm to solve a kidnapping case. The two use each other to achieve their ends: Emily aspires to ‘Top Dog’ in her high end law firm, while Teddy aims to extricate himself from the mafia.

We ended the year on a high note by re-watching The Bureau, a French espionage show set in Paris at the headquarters of the General Directorate for External Security (the French equivalent of the CIA). During 50 episodes, intelligence agents pursue dangerous missions around the globe. A review by John Powers captures the show’s appeal: “The great film director Francois Truffaut once observed that French storytelling begins with personalities. It’s rooted in psychology, while American storytelling begins with situations. It’s about what happens. With The Bureau, Eric Rochant and his team have found a way to split the difference. As it races from Paris and Algiers to Baku and Moscow, this cleverly plotted show sucks you in with cliffhangers worthy of Hollywood… [and] offers a realistic vision of how character gets shaped by circumstance.” I’m not sure of the streaming options, but a box set of five seasons on DVD made an excellent birthday gift for Glen. In three years, we’ll watch it a third time. 

Glen and I welcome your suggestions in the comments below. •