Before We Die

A series with very good acting, especially the Mimicas family, but tainted with lack of real aim and direction, convenient and "lucky" situations for the infiltrator, having near complete freedom of reporting without almost no suspicion and trailing, all for a surprising and half-weak ending twist!?

Nothing deep and impressive, but interesting to follow episode by episode, with nice filming and moody, thrillingly depressive score.

Yet to watch season 2, hopefully with believable plots and a solid closure.

There's some interesting aspects to this show, despite it having pacing issues and being somewhat contrived. It can be frustrating to watch when some plot beats could have been truncated. But I will say the last two episodes of the first season were great and redeemed a lot of it for me.

The second season, however, was so contrived I just couldn't get into it the same way, and the ending was completely perfunctory. Some returning characters' motivations for returning to the show made no sense and it often focused on boring aspects of what could have been a really interesting narrative. It tries to leave it on a cliffhanger but It was hard to care. I'd be surprised if it returned.

I enjoyed watching this. The basic plot has been seen before but there was a freshness and some originally to this series. The acting and overall production is good. The script is well paced and in the last episode we learn something that refers us back to opening episode. A satisfying finale.

"Before We Die" ("Innan vi Dör") is a Swedish crime drama series, one of the best made, in a long time. There's not much to complain about, and even though the series is in 10 episodes within the same story-line, it manages to keep the quality, as well as the pace.

In a script that is both clever and very well written, the actors manage to be as credible as the story is. This is a raw, relentlessly drama that starts with the police Hanna Svensson, played by Marie Richardson – who isn't as boxy as Saga Norén in "Bron" ("The Bridge") – but you cannot exactly accuse her for being socially elegant. Instead, she's pushy and zealous, but with a large sense of justice. Even up to the point when she puts her own son - Christian - behind bars for two years for drug trafficking.

Marie Richardson carries the series and she does it with a nervy presence that engages. Magnus Krepper is wonderfully sleazy as her police colleague. Adam Pålsson does a poignant interpretation as Hanna's son, who wants to make old injustices right again and Alexej Manvelov works perfectly as the villain. With some reservation of stereotyping the bad guys, but that is something you will soon overlook.

I really hope this series will be out there with English subtitles, because I heartily recommend it.

Slightly disturbed female cops are the thing in thrillers these days. This is a nice series with interesting plot lines and good acting. It kept me hooked all the way along the first season so naturally I decided to continue with the second. This was a disappointment. Very far fetched plot twists, dead that come back alive, just too much to be credible. So enjoy season 1 and leave it at that.