For me the best thing about the new year is that I finally get to watch the final season of one of the truly great TV series- Spiral, streaming on MHz Choice.
When people talk about some of the best TV series, the list usually includes such greats as The Wire, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Deadwood, Game of Thrones, The Sopranos, Homeland and Twin Peaks among others. But for me the gritty French police procedural Spiral is right at the top of the list. And on MHz Choice they are rolling out the final season this month and I’m not sure my nerves can take it. For 8 seasons this show has dazzled with its brilliant performances, taut plotlines and often unbearable suspense. It’s also probably the only series that makes Paris look crummy. Trust me to dip your foot into this incredible series is to be stunned and addicted. The 7th season was doled out with two episodes every Tuesday, and I always took the phone off the hook for them. The astounding Caroline Proust plays the damaged detective Laure Berthaud, and during the 7th season she is still reeling from her inability to deal with the premature birth of her child. Her loyal friend and occasional romantic interest Gilou (Thierry Godard) is now heading the police squad. The shocking murder of their chief brings Laure back into the team, and they become mired in a dangerous investigation into money laundering, the tentacles of which reach people in high places. Another favorite character is the shifty lawyer Josephine Karlsson (fiercely played by red-haired beauty Audrey Fleurot), who is cooling her heels in prison for her (satisfying) revenge on the man who sexually assaulted her. And the kindly Judge Roban (Philippe Duclos) is reaching retirement. Typically, Laure and Gilou are up to their old tricks, playing out wild, unorthodox, and often illegal schemes to get at the truth. It was a nerve-shredding season with some pretty heartbreaking conclusions.
But there are so many new seasons to other international favorites on MHz Choice that also make me crazy.
Murder In. A fabulously popular series which each episode is with a new detective and set in some exotic, gorgeous section of France- from Medieval cities to breathtaking seaside hamlets. These hour and a half mysteries are beautifully constructed and with a slight romantic strain included, making it even more delicious. The latest season included a wonderful episode set in a Provins, with its Medieval fortifications and fairs, where during an acting troupe’s historical reconstruction a real ancient dagger is used to stab the randy performance group leader.
Magellan. Another French favorite with a charming, irascible Jacques Spiesser as Inspector Magellan, great at solving crimes but a push-over at home with his daughter, and often with a house guest that refuses to leave. The portly, lazy cousin is free-loading during the latest season. But the mysteries are great and there is something incredibly enjoyable about this show that makes me eagerly await the next installment.
Bukow & Konig. A terrific German procedural with a dynamic Charly Hubner as the troubled cop Alexander Bukow and the wonderful Anneke Kim Sarnau as his beleaguered partner Katrin Konig. In the newest season, both have to appear in front of a disciplinary board for their actions in the previous season which causes friction between the partners. But the episodes are gritty and intense- shining a light on white nationalism creeping into politics, and a powerful episode about a mother searching for justice for her daughter who was murdered 30 years earlier.
Perfect Murders. A wonderful new French anthology mystery series with a series of genuinely quirky detectives who solve clever murders. Right at the outset the audience knows who the killer is but the fun is watching the wily detectives figure out how they perpetrated the crime. Perhaps my favorite character is the defiantly bohemian female detective who has an amiable sexual relationship with two separate men (who are also good friends).
Blood of the Vine. This about the well-respected, wine expert Benjamin Lebel (Pierre Arditi) in the Bordeaux region of France. In his visits to incredibly scenic wineries he usually encounters a murder that he helps the police solve (often to their annoyance). This new season puts Lebel in danger and in the crosshairs of some dangerous adversaries. In one episode, he is knocked out in a parking garage and left in a coma, causing temporary amnesia. And in another he becomes the prime suspect in a brutal murder. This show just gets better.
Special Division. I really enjoy this new Armenian show about a specialist team of cops who solve serious crimes. The team resembles many that you’ve seen in American shows. The tough, no-nonsense head of the division. A female cop who is secretly having an affair with him. Another cop in love with her. And the nerdy new tech boy. But it’s the low-rent production that I find so refreshing. Their big meetings are in a white room with a large table and chairs and that’s it. And their interactions with criminals and wealthy villains are simple, direct and not fussy. The mysteries are also pretty great. They each take two episodes to solve.
The big Christmas surprise treat on MHz Choice were two new Captain Marleau episodes- a wildly offbeat detective who looks like Olive Oyl in a fur-trapper hat. She enters a crime scene like a bull in a china shop and startles and unnerves suspects with her quirky behavior. It’s such a blast to watch. And the New Year’s episode is about Marleau, relaxing in Guadaloupe, where her vacation is interrupted when she is called in to help the local police solve a murder where voodoo artifacts are left at the scene. All episodes of this series are directed by Josee Dayan and the fabulous Connie Masiero plays the Columbo-like Captain with perverse gusto. (Watch for Magellan lead- Jacques Spiesser to show up in a great cameo).