End of Summer

This Swedish drama opens in the summer of 1984 as young Vera witnesses her mother committing suicide by jumping into a lake. Twenty years later Vera is working as a grief councillor. A man, identifying himself as Isak talks about how he recently learnt that he was adopted; one of his only early memories concerns the disappearance of a childhood friend. Vera starts to wonder if Isak could in fact be her young brother Billy who vanished shortly before her mother's death. Returning to her rural home town with Isak she tries to discover what happened to her brother. Everybody seems to think local ne'er-do-well Tommy killed him before disappearing himself but is it that simple?

I thought this was a really solid series. There was a good sense of mystery and an impressive '80s feel to the numerous extended flashback scenes. The truth is gradually revealed and doesn't become guessable until it is almost time for the reveal; and even then it is a case of 'I think this might have happened' rather than certainty. The cast impresses, most obviously Julia Ragnarsson who does a fine job as Vera. Six episodes in length it doesn't feel rushed, nor does it ever drag. The setting is great; the flashback scenes beautifully captured the languid feel of childhood summers years ago. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to fans of Scandinavian drama.

Ragnarsson was a great anchor for the whole season . Remember her original showing in the stellar " THE BRIDGE " ? It's disturbing in the sense that , there are several , interconnected strands that all contribute to the end game , within a relatively small community, over two generations . It begs the question , is this what rural living is actually like in Scandinavian culture ? Several Scandi Noir series have covered similar ground , or is it that original storylines are simply plagiarised infinitely ? There are a few characters within the plot that are superfluous and unnecessary which slows it down somewhat . Some of the hints are a touch strong , but ultimately the denouement is excellent. However , there is a rather glaring open end which can , in no way , be justification for a second series ?

A family with a dark past lies at the centre of Swedish drama 'End of Summer'. As with many thrillers, the story is somewhat contrived, but actually well put together: given what had happened, it makes broad sense that the characters think and acts as they do at the start of the tale, allowing the revealing of the mystery in a plausible and gripping way. Where it's less strong is how it gets the investigation going: the protagonist is a beautiful, brilliant grief therapist, who has taken up this career, bizarrely, because she has never overcome her own grief at the truamatic events of her youth. This is both hackneyed and ridiculous, and the early episodes feel very contrived. Only as the story moves on, and we can forget how it started, does it start to become compelling.

Intially promising, good plot and well known actors. But unfortunately this production failed miserably. What exactly is wrong you might ask? It's a combination of several factors according to my opinion Firstly the character build up is not done right. The story it self is either unfolding too fast or too slow. The different scenes dont follow each other in a smooth way. They are kind of disconnected. Some of the supporting scenes that should tell a story behind each character are sometimes unnecessary or don't really make sense to the audience.

Main thing lacking is that this show fails in building up a suspense. I quickly became uninterested in what happens and didn't know what or who I was rooting for.

The acting is overall good, so is the script and how it's executed.

My guess to why it fails is the pre planning of this production, what scenes to shoot to tell the story and how to build suspense. Could the team be more used to typical drama and not crime/who dunit?

This is a classy piece of work. Starting right at the top, the writing is superb. Most screenplays slap on big, chunky layers of intrigue, a bit like lasagne, but End of Summer is so much more subtle, creating layers, so quietly introduced you hardly notice, like Filo pastry. Its a guessing game right to the end and no-one will guess in advance, even though they might think they have the answer. The casting is excellent, acting top notch and direction makes the complex screenplay hang together almost effortlessly. This is screen production of the higher order. And of course you need very strong screen talent to carry it, especially in the early episodes when the intrigue hasn't really had a chance to ratchet up yet. This is where Julia Ragnarsson excels as Vera ( and the young actress who plays her child self). Both so very good and totally believable being the same person. To the entire crew and team, thank you for an excellent screen drama.