WatchingTheDetectives1

I've watched a fair amount of Finnish TV shows and this miniseries is one of the better ones. I like Johannes Holopianen in pretty much everything I've seen him in - check out Heavy Trip (2018) and All The Sins (2019). The character development and writing is good. I started out not really liking the characters too much but by the end getting really invested in their stories and wishing I could see more. There's some cliche elements you get in all these types of shows but overall really powerful storytelling, showing the far reaching effects of war and human trafficking.

I haven't read the Edith Warton novel this is based on but I enjoyed the 1995 miniseries much more than this one even with all its flaws. I can see by some of the reviews that people don't realize this based on a historical fiction novel set in the Gilded Age (late Victorian) not set in an alternate universe (à la Bridgerton). Wharton was born in 1861 so she wrote from first hand experience. The original novel was unfinished so it has been open to reworking and finishing since her death. It seems someone decided Wharton's excellent writing needed the "Bridgerton treatment". I've seen some other historical fiction series that were able to incorporate modern music and language in a way that fits with the tone and style of the story but this is definitely not one of those. The music seems like they just picked random pop songs that don't fit with anything. Also insults the viewer's intelligence by hitting you over the head with the feminist theme in modern language as if we can't figure it out on our own.

I was excited to have a new murder mystery to watch but this was so dull and disappointing that I'm writing a review as I watch. The 3 stars are for the pretty exterior shots and sets although this was filmed in the US not England. There are too many anachronisms to list. The main character is supposed to be very clever but comes off as a smug know-it-all. Actually none of the characters are interesting or likeable. I couldn't care less what happens to any of them.

It's a blatant rip off of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None but without the excellent writing of Christie or the warmth of a good cozy mystery. This is Hallmark channel quality, if you like that sort of thing.