DNA

Written by the same team as penned 'The Killing', the story is cleverly constructed, and delivers a nice twist at the end, leaving a good lasting impression.

The acting however, is decidedly patchy. Anders Berthelson (in the lead role) shines in the last few scenes., but prior to that, does little more than vacillate between a vacant, bored expression and one of mild anguish.

Odd too, that the writers allow his young female partner to take all the punches. Strong women may be in-vogue, but this degrades the lead role considerably.

By way of contrast, Zofia Wichlacz sparkles as the troubled young mother who has her baby snatched by the nuns that are supposed to be protecting her. Why this gifted young actress hasn't been snapped up by Hollywood is something of a mystery. - 8.1/10.

This series is centred on Danish police officer Rolf Larsen and investigation which uncovers baby smuggling in Europe. In a prologue we see Rolf investigating the disappearance of a baby; a lead takes him to Poland. Unable to get a babysitter, he takes his own child with him and she disappears during the ferry crossing... officially she fell overboard in a tragic accident. Five years later he is working in a rural area but is called back in following a similar case. He soon uncovers a problem in the supposedly error proof DNA data base and dares to believe his daughter might still be alive. While investigating the possible baby smuggling with French police officer Claire Bobin he runs a parallel, unofficial, investigation into his daughter's disappearance. The case will see them investigating in Denmark, France and Poland. Intertwined with this we see what is happening to Julita, a young, pregnant Polish woman, who has sought help at a convent.

I enjoyed this mystery/thriller despite some obvious flaws. The prologue sets things up nicely giving our protagonist extra motivation to solve the case. This also provides an early problem as we are forced to believe that Rolf would leave his baby daughter in a pram on the deck of a ferry during a storm! If one can get past this early problem the story is solid; I liked how the story of Rolf's investigation is intertwined with Julita's story. The conclusion features some twists; some the viewer is likely to see coming while others are more surprising. Without going into detail I will say I liked the ending even though I doubt it would have played out like that in reality. The cast does a solid job although I can't comment on the delivery as others have as I don't speak the characters' native languages; their English is certainly better than I can speak other languages!

With its multiple nationalities much of it is in English despite there being no English characters; the rest is subtitled Danish, French or Polish.

Great writing, good acting. Keeps you guessing. Worth a watch.

When a baby goes missing without a trace I am hooked anticipating that they will find it. But the script keeps throwing me off. Which policeman would bring their own baby on a 'missing child hunt' to work? Who would leave their baby in a babywagon outside on a ferry in a storm? Which police(wo)man would say: "have you ever seen this woman - your friend said you both didn't know her" and expect to get an honest answer?

So many errors in a decent plot is beyond me. I know we have a lot of good writers in Denmark and the actors to follow it up. But this is very amateure like. I can't say if it's the lines or the directors fault, but the actors have done so much better before, that this is really painfull at times for me to watch.

If you like crime series and you love detective movies you will love DNA. It is not the best nordic series but it is very good. The subject is very interesting, child trafficking, the actors are very good, the filming is great and above all it is like a mystery and it gets you right from the beginning till the end. It is also sad and dramatic but it has a lot of action too. Give it a try and you will not be disappointed.