TV SERIES: RIVER

 

I'm a fan of European police dramas, they have remarkably less emphasis on gun play and car chases than American offerings. Often, there is better writing and more imaginative, intricate plots. River is an exemplary case in point. Upon reading the brief description, one could easily jump to the conclusion of "oh, cop sees dead people" a la The Sixth Sense. River however, is much, much more.

DI John River (Stellan Skarsgard) witnesses his partner DS Jackie (Stevie) Stevenson (Nicola Walker) getting shot in the head crossing the street after a late night restaurant meal. We soon realize that River sees and communicates with his dead partner. To anyone around him, he is talking and gesticulating to blank air. Other dead people visit River, from crime victims whose cases he is investigating to an executed 19th Century serial killer. 

So, the story unfolds: trying to solve Stevie's murder and learning about River's affliction. It's a tangled, intricate tale with this curious tension about River's mental status: is he very crazy or indeed has access to a supernatural dimension or both? Is this strictly the result of childhood trauma (a very popular trope these days) or are the manifestations heightened because of Stevie's murder?

This is a well written piece, great character development, great acting by veteran actors Skarsgard, Walker and Lesley Manville who plays River's boss. There is quite a bit being explored beyond River's mental state and trauma: loss and grieving, familial dynamics and the hardships faced by immigrants.

Worth watching. Found on Britbox via Prime.