I think Tuesday is fast becoming my favorite day of the week. That’s when MHz Choice releases their new episodes and series. MHz is to me more valuable than Netflix and Amazon Prime, with their dizzying array of brilliant series from different countries. Mysteries, dramas, comedies from Italy, France, Germany, Japan, etc. You know when you can subscribe to a streaming service and after binging for a few weeks you’re done. Well, that will never happen with MHz– they keep rolling out new series and new episodes from your old favorites. And their library is fathomless. Lately they have really been batting it out of the park.
Makari. This mystery series from Sicily stars the handsome, affable Claudio Gioe as Saverio, who returns to his hometown after being fired from working for the Ministry of the Interior in Rome. He goes back to his first love, writing (he published a well-received book years ago), fixes up his abandoned family home, and reuintes with an old friend- Pepe (Domenico Centamoro), a big, blustery character. He also finds himself helping with the police solving baffling murders and crimes. The scenery is to die for it’s so beautiful, but the episodes crackle with romance, comedy, and suspense. The reason for the success is that the director of each episode is Michele Soavi, one of my favorite directors who did Cemetery Man; Stage Fright; The Church and The Sect.
Paris Police 1900. Set in the Belle Epoque era of Paris, it is also the turbulent time where the Alfred Dreyfus arrest and trial has caused a rise of virulent anti-Semitism. Jeremie Laheurte plays a decent, honorable policeman investigating a woman’s dismembered torso found floating in the Seine. The search for the name of the victim and the identity of the killer leads him down a dangerous, dark rabbit hole riddled with corruption- in government and his own police force. The new Commissioner wants to clean up the corruption but his wife’s drug habit is used to try and discredit him. There is a courtesan that is used as a spy, and a vicious family- the Guirins who run an anti-Semitic newspaper, fanning the flames of hate and are rounding up an army of followers, outnumbering the police. Every episode is a nail-biter, beautifully acted with expert attention to detail of the era in costumes and sets.
Wilder. The second season of this excellent Swiss mystery series stars Sarah Spale as Inspector Rosa Wilder, called to a small mountainous village to investigate a bizarre triple murder. She reunites with old colleague Kagi (the quirky, wonderful Marcus Signer) and in the course of the investigation confronts a labyrinth of hidden family secrets, drug dealing, racism and personal tragedies. There’s not a dull moment in this second season which is beautifully constructed and thrillingly told.
The Fox. I adore this German series with Lina Wendel as Anne Marie Fuchs, a former East German Stasi spy who teams up with a lovable, wily Arab importer Youssef El Kilali (Karim Cherif) to form a detective agency. Her no-nonsense methods of investigation and Kilali’s charm and tenacity (not to mention a tech-savvy sister) lead to a remarkably exciting series. During the course of the first season Anne Marie finds to her horror that the son she was told was dead is very much alive and in desperate trouble.
The Alligator. A gritty crime series from Italy with handsome Matteo Martari as Marco, a blues singer who spent seven years in jail for a crime he didn’t commit. He tracks down his ex-girlfriend (Valeria Solarino), a sultry singer, but things don’t go as planned and hooks up with a tough-guy friend he met in prison Bentamino (Thomas Trabacchi) and they end up as rough and tumble private investigators, putting them in the crosshairs of very dangerous criminals. Matteo Martari has scruffy, sexy, animal magnetism to burn.
Cherif. A French mystery series set in Lyons, which a wildly charismatic Abdelhafid Metalsi as great, quirky detective Kader Cherif, forever quoting old TV cop and mystery series, living with a feisty daughter and dodging phone calls from his doting mother. He is intrigued by the new member of the squad- beautiful police captain Adeline Briard (Carole Bianic), and as they get in synch as a team to solve crimes, the sparks fly between them. The final season just aired and after a big shift in the previous season I feared they might not rebound. But I was pleasantly surprised, and they even brought back a frightening nemesis, a female cop who became scarily obsessed over Cherif and now is in hiding, hellbent on revenge. It’s a great finale to a fantastic series, and they even weave in Cherif’s obsession with TV shows in the last episode, which is just sublime.
And if that isn’t enough (and I admit I haven’t gotten to some of the new Japanese and Swedish series yet) my biggest excitement is saved for all the new episodes of the Tatort series (one of the longest running German TV series with revolving detectives and settings). I love every one of them. There are riveting new episodes of Tatort: Borowski, Tatort: Streets of Berlin, Tatort: Weimar and upcoming new episodes of Tatort: Lindholm.
Is it Tuesday yet?