Tag: MHz Choice

“The Eagle: Season Two” – Review

Cross-border police dramas have been popular for quite a while in Europe. “The Eagle” ran for three seasons on Danish TV in 2004-06, and counts among their solid entries in the genre. The title was the nickname accorded to Hallgrim (Jens Albinus, who looks rather like a world-weary Gary Collins), a first-class detective from Iceland who has distinguished himself serving in Denmark. When Season One began, he’d just been appointed to head a new unit specializing in cases involving suspects or victims from two or more countries, ideally to minimize jurisdictional restraints and complications in preventing or solving crimes. The first of eight episodes begins with a new serious crime to handle just as he’s trying to return to Iceland to spend time with his dying mother. The urgent threat preempts the personal.

The hourlong programs deal with a main case every one or two episodes, with some running threads and recurring characters loosely linking them. That makes it advisable to watch in order, though bingeing may not be necessary. The scripts are, as usual for Nordic crime dramas, well-written, with a gritty, realistic look and tenor, not much overt action. Or sunlight. Or levity. The team of actors spent time at a police academy to prep for their roles. A real one. Not by watching our series of POLICE ACADEMY comedies.

The crimes in Season One ranged from cop killers to drug dealing and money laundering to human trafficking, and even a nuclear threat. They are handled mostly by intellectual sleuthing from the team. We also get the usual mix of personal stories among the handful of players in the unit, but nowhere near the soap opera territory others have plied. The Icelandic locations serve well, standing in for almost all scenes that are supposedly occurring in Denmark and around the Continent.

In Season Two, the format changes. A couple of writers were replaced, perhaps facilitating the new approach. This whole season consists of the team’s attempt to bust a huge criminal enterprise. An arms-dealing cartel that stretches from Russia to Africa, with Denmark one of the stops along the way. Other crimes – like buying them with valuable minerals, blood diamonds or human trafficking – keep the weapons moving from one hand to the next. The eight episodes are stages of the overall task. Whenever they nail one of the leaders, another tier of evil with a new monster emerges. Like a lethal Whack-a-Mole.

Local and international politics frequently hinder their efforts, as many of the targeted honchos have protectors among various governments and agencies making them off-limits, if not immune, regarding the two-hand metal bracelets and reservations at a graybar hotel they so richly deserve. Honor among thieves is an alien concept to these bad guys. They eliminate some of the bosses or henchmen when they become inconvenient to the others. Cynical for the cops to get more help from the crooks than from their governments in steps up the criminal ladder. But that seems likely to exist in the real world more than we’ll ever know.

There’s also more action in Season Two: physical confrontations in the field; more use of SWAT teams and other armed back-up; more shots fired; higher body count. Even with that dimension ramped up, they manage to flesh out the characters of several regulars, including their personal issues and problems. The writers give Hallgrim a rather unmanageable set of romantic options, and something of a sex life. No naughty bits displayed in any of those horizontal encounters.

Season Two ends with some open questions, but no seminal cliffhangers. Fellow closure buffs can be reassured about their protagonists’ futures. There is a Season Three of the same length that supposedly wraps it all up, and MHz will likely acquire those rights and stream them here in the near future.

2.5 stars out of 4

“The Eagle: Season Two” mostly in Danish among nine other languages, with subtitles, streams on MHzChoice on August 6, 2024.

https://watch.mhzchoice.com/the-eagle

“Don Matteo: Season 9” – TV Series Review

Terence Hill in “Don Matteo” on MHz Choice

If you’re in the mood for light-hearted mysteries with an engaging cast of characters, the subtitled Italian TV series “Don Matteo: Season 9” may suit your fancy. No TV program runs for over 20 years and 260+ episodes in ANY country without considerable merit. Iconic actor Terence Hill stars as the priest in a little village who can’t help becoming a murder magnet, constantly involved in solving the crime of the day, usually to rescue one of his wrongly-accused parishioners. The local cops alternately rely on and resent his sleuthing, but it always leads to the right result within an hour of air time.

Hill became a global star in the 1970s largely from his wonderful comedic Spaghetti Westerns (most notably the TRINITY flicks), among many pairings with Bud Spencer. The latter usually played a burly, grumpy sidekick to Hill’s playful lead in many successful light adventures, whether situated in the Old West or a variety of contemporary settings. Hill’s charming characters invariably faced life with a knowing smile and twinkling eyes that said he was capable of handling anything without taking it too seriously. In those days, his gift for physical comedy was also a large part of fun.

The 60-year-old Hill, who started this series in 2000, eschewed most of the physical for this one, but still had that endearing look of warmth and humor that established him as the kind of priest any churchgoer would hope to find at the pulpit. He’s surrounded by a cast of characters who provide most of the comic relief as he solves a new crime each episode. Many of them have been around from the first season to this ninth of the twelve that have aired abroad to date. Though I was only able to screen four of its 26 episodes, fans can be assured of receiving the kind of stories and level of quality they expect from the first eight. Don Matteo moves to a new town, but remains surrounded by many of the old faces. In these episodes, the balance between Hill’s sleuthing and the mostly-comedic antics of the supporting cast tipped more towards the latter than when the series began.

Since each episode covers a new crime, there’s no pressure to binge. Leisurely tales can be savored at a leisurely pace. Those unfamiliar with this series might find it similar in tone and content to the long-running British series “Father Brown.” Both are bright, humble, insightful priests in small communities, surrounded by characters who help or hinder their efforts in solving murders and other felonies in a light-hearted, non-gory presentation. Both also get around mainly on bicycles. That English analog started in 2013 with 100 episodes to date. Both are still producing new shows in their homelands, and available in the U.S. on TV or streaming.

The only downside to the character of Don Matteo is that Hill is my senior by about eight years, but still looks like he could get on a horse, strap on a six-gun and dispatch any villains in his path. My delight in what he still brings to the screen, comes at the cost of feeling even older than I usually do. Your mileage may vary.

“Don Matteo: Season 9,” in Italian with English subtitles, is streaming on MHz Choice starting April 5.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars