The Team

Very watchable European cop drama. Lars is just Lars very solid and dependable. I really like the Mary Bach Hansen but not so the Jackie one! Does Lars jump into the sack with Jackie or stay with his wife and newborn, have to watch and see! I shall take a break before trying the second series but from what I have read it basically is different!

Ok, don't take the plot too seriously but overall it is better than anything the UK is turning out these days. If you like Scandi drama, then you should like this.

This is one of those dramas, like 'Shetland' and 'Vera' where the location plays like a character. The parts in Austria are gorgeous. The story sort of goes occasionally 'off-piste' like the parts about fatherhood but this killed time nicely.

I typically gravitate towards European crime thrillers but The Team left me cold.

The key reason is the so called team are in fact dispirit groups in different nations, who mostly only come together remotely. Its disconcerting, undermining the possibility of any real group cohesion and chemistry between the cast.

Worse still, this approach makes the story hard to follow, constantly breaking up the flow, as it hops, in jarring fashion, between peace meal teams in different countries and geographic locations.

On the upside the acting is reasonable but I found the characterisations a bit clinical and matter of fact. The story is a good one once you get to grips with it but it takes real effort to follow along.

In summary I wanted to like The Team but the core concept is, in my view, flawed, creating issues I don't feel can really be remedied. 5/10.

Two episodes into season #2 I was fast forwarding constantly because I found it dragging horribly ... but was curious about the outcome. Sometimes it's hard to look away from a car crash as they say ...and season #2 was certainly that. Awfully cliched characters and some pretty hard to believe police procedural work.