“Jana, Marked for Life” – TV Series Review

This Swedish procedural miniseries ”Jana, Marked for Life” is well-written in terms of plot suspense, but falls short in developing personalities of the principals that inspire engagement with them. Jana (Madeleine Martin) is the daughter of a wealthy, respected judge who is about to retire. At a posh party in His Honor’s honor, Jana spoils daddy’s evening by announcing that she’s starting work as a local prosecuting attorney, rather than accept the prestigious job he’d arranged for her with a leading firm in Stockholm.

Day one puts her on a murder case with detective Peer (August Wittgenstein), with whom she has a history. She also must work with a female officer, Mia (Moa Gammel), who resents the hell out of this privileged lass walking into a better job than hers, and immediately asserting her own ideas about the case too vigorously. Jana has more knowledge about the victim than she acknowledges to the others, and is also haunted by dreams and flashbacks to a troubled youth that she doesn’t actually remember. Apparently, she was adopted after a tragic early life with all conscious memory blotted out. She also has inexplicable fighting skills that show up in an emergency.

The murder victim was about to blow the whistle on a major criminal ring when he was whacked by someone looking like a small, lithe ninja. Not exactly standard for Nordic criminals. Through six hour-long episodes, we gradually learn more about Jana’s backstory and how it may relate to the current crime she’s working. Those efforts are hampered by issues with her junkie kid sister Jojo (Sigrid Johnson); her father and former shrink withholding information about those nagging origins; and Jana’s refusal to share what she’s learning with the cops like a proper team player would. That’s rather annoying, especially when she repeatedly puts herself in positions of danger without any notice to the others. Nor does she make things easier for her troubled sibling by explaining that her bitchiness is job and history-related, not disapproval of Jojo, who takes Jana’s aloofness personally.

As the good guys stumble their way through the maze of possible crimes and perps, old and current, Jana’s chosen secrecy and autonomy wear thin. Most such dramas thrive on the likability and/or empathy factor of their protagonist(s). Jana is as off-putting to the viewers as to the other players in her family and work circles. She’s smart and usually correct in her suspicions, but frustratingly closed off in how she pursues the essential answers.

The season ends in a complete package without significant cliffhangers, though it does leave some residue for a second season. Since it originally aired in 2024, that remains as a distinct possibility. If so, perhaps Jana will have purged enough of her devils to play more nicely with others on the next case. That would make an upgrade for them and the viewers.

“Jana, Marked for Life,” mostly in Swedish with English subtitles, streams on ViaPlay starting May 9, 2025.

RATING: 2 out of 4 stars