Dicte

..so many productions appear artificial, or produced for 'effect.' This is a show that feels 'real-life'. These characters do not come off as actors, and that is something so welcome in sitting back and watching things play out. Iben Hjejle is a favorite actor, on either side of the pond... she is just so natural. Have been fortunate to see her in other works... she never disappoints. She is someone you would just like to meet and really get to know. Of course the story lines have to been taken independently, because no one person would have so much happen to them in real-world situations. But there is something truly unique in this production, it has a warmth and closeness, and she and all the other regular cast members make that happen time and again. So glad it does sparingly occur, because it gives hope it will somehow come about again. Special is special... even if it does not happen very frequently.

Loved season 1, 3 strong women characters, good plots, great interactions male detective adds value. Season 2 starts ok then goes off the rails. Dicté becomes a neurotic a$$ , my favorite character gets killed due to Dicte's actions. Season 3 is just stupid people doing stupid men things. Dicté is so hung up on her own problems that she hurts all around her. I rate season 1 a 9, season 2 a 7 and season 3 a 2. So, average 6.

We watched season 3 just for completeness. It was painful. Each character that we liked in season 1 (except Torsten, his wife and Dicte's daughter) did mean things over the course of time so we ended up disliking all of them. With no characters to like the truly simple minded plots became a series of who cares. Don't watch season 3, make up your own endings. They'll be much better.

Workmanlike Danish crime/human interest drama that ticks pretty much all the boxes we've come to expect. Young (-ish = late 30s/40s) professional female protagonist, check. Hipper and funkier than other people her age, as against more conventional friends and co-workers who seem occasionally bemused or irritated with her behavior, check and check. With her career, has to juggle raising one or two children more or less alone, and then a mystery crops up, check. Old boyfriend or ex-husband lurking around for color, check. Bad guys, if any, most likely to be right-wing, religious, or foreigners, check. A cast with familiar faces such as Iben Hjelje (from "Dag,") Laerke Winther Andersen ("Den som draeber," "Bankelot"), Dar Salim ("Broen," "Borgen," "Livvagterne," "Game of Thrones,") and Lars Brygmann ("Borgen," "Bankerot," "Rejseholdet") has crewed the show through three seasons now, very watchably. If you are not already a Nordic drama fan, this show is unlikely to win you over; if you are, however, you will enjoy it.

Dicte is a good break from the slick over-directed over-produced American dramas. It shows normal people with crooked teeth and not a lot of make-up solving gritty crimes and involved in many of life's dramas. I particularly enjoyed the nature of the Danish people, being open and interactive, divorcing a little too much perhaps, but very human, leading good lifestyles. It is not all about lawyers, psychopaths, terrorists and greedy people like I often see in dramas in North America. They are like the British and the Canadians, living in a somewhat civilized society where people care about each other. I really appreciate not too slick and not too always money-oriented. Is is a really refreshing series that I found most compelling to watch.

Thankfully Netflix has added the first season of this to its streaming lineup otherwise I would never have even heard of it. I was hooked from the first episode and even though it was subtitled, soon you get so caught up in it you don't even realize you're still reading. Although Dicte is the main character, there is no shortage of surrounding characters whose stories are just as deep that you find yourself wanting to see more of them. The setting is beautiful, the stories intertwine perfectly from one to the next and the cast is superb.

My only complaint is that they haven't released the second season anywhere that I can view it, so I will have to wait, albeit impatiently, for the next episodes. If only America had more shows like this, I'd never leave the house.