msghall

This is not a master class in TV series history. But it has its charms and it's those charms that keep me watching. Sure, the plots are sometimes thin and the resolutions come too swiftly to fully appreciate.

Plus, it's all rather too easy going; there's a lack of nasty repartee among the officers and ugliness that we see in UK and US detective shows. I prefer the Scandinavian approach.

But that doesn't deter me from giving this a 7.5 mainly because of the lead character is unique in these kind of shows. Altogether too human, she vacillates in her love life, causing viewer frustration but she and her team make for an easy-going atmosphere among some pretty atrocious murders.

What amazes me, not just for this show but most Scandinavian productions is that the reviewers here from those countries are so negative about the TV shows from those countries. Really negative. Kind of like my Canada where we denigrate our arts, too, self-critical and too negative about their own arts. Surprising to see such negativity, almost like self flagellation.

Devo was a fun, adventurous band with a talent for mixing innovative sounds and vision with a commercial appeal that spread across a tumultuous decade or so.

Devo's catalog is rich and tuneful, despite the surface weirdness. The band wasn't just keenly talented musically, they brought a wit and an intellectual heft that was sorely needed in the music industry.

Casale seems to be the genius behind it all with Mothersbaugh right up there. But it's Casale's and Motherbaugh's never-ending complaining about the commercialization of the music industry and how Devo were poor, innocent lambs, victims of not just the piranha-like music industry but of America itself that disappointed me.

It's obvious Devo were masters at commercializing their product, even placing marketing/product paraphernalia inside albums. Instead of being the victims of commercialization, Devo were experts at sucking out the money from everything they touched/touch.

Funny that they whine so much while both Casale and Mothersbaugh continue to become richer and richer in the film industry while the legend of Devo continues to grow.

A fine documentary, as enjoyable as the band, but Devo sometimes come across today as too 21st century, too privileged and entitled with wealth, reminding one of Trump or Musk, playing the victim while enriching themselves.

I'm into season five and have enjoyed the show so far. The characters have depth, humor and unpredictability. Each episode is involving and keeps me interesting to the very end. The actors are mostly wonderful, especially the lead.

However, there are some worrying aspects that interfere with total enjoyment of this show for me. The most obvious are plot contrivances where characters do stupid things simply to advance the story. For example, too many times victims being guarded by police talk openly at night indoors in front of windows with the blinds open. Ridiculous. Detectives walk into traps without thinking. Simply to advance the plot.

Gunvald is one of the most interesting characters, whose initial nastiness is thankfully softened over the years. But his killing of a child while driving, distracted on the phone, is brushed aside. I learned a lot about the Swedish people by the way they tolerate Gunvald's bullying personality in the first three seasons.

Worst of all, there is far too much time wasted on Beck's convos with his needy, irritating neighbor. He's irritating and boring at the same time but has lots of screen time so I guess he's a hit with Swedes.

On a side note, curious that so many Swedes over the age of 30 are obese or close to it. Even the younger ones have double chins. Surprised to learn this about a country I thought was one of the fittest.

In summary, this is a show that deserves an 8 or 9 but suffers from plot devices that sometimes insult the intelligence. So I give it a 7.5.