Day Fifty-three - Annika Bengtzon: Crime Reporter: Nobel's Last Will, or "Too bad Liza and Stieg couldn't have a love child."

I really like the Millennium Trilogy and the American remake of Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, so when Annika Bengtzon showed up as a recommended pick, I naturally gravitated its way, since it had some of the folks involved in the Trilogy behind the scenes.

To be honest, I expected much... and got almost everything that I wanted.

Sure, it was tamed down for television, but Nobel's Last Will was actually fairly sophisticated, especially when compared to American procedurals.

I really liked the gimmick of the gag order as it's pretty foreign to me for a police inspector to be able to muffle a reporter so effectively without a National Security order... let alone for her to keep to it so well, whereas an American reporter would find a way to leak it immediately.

There's also something awesome about Annika's personal drama, too.

I'm used to seeing family as a minimal presence... something to balance a main character from the stresses of their work, and that is here, but the bully plotline with her son is pretty damn compelling. This is especially true with how she chooses to confront it as, after not getting much support from her boyfriend, she does something so immediately protective and primal that she could get arrested or sued... and I loved every second of it saying "RIGHT ON" with my Id and "Oh, that's gonna bite you in the ass" with my Superego.

The mystery is a little drab, though. The clues that fall into place aren't all that clever. I mean, the way a letter uses one name over another that causes pressure and another murder? Also, the episodes final puzzle being a guessing game based on a random desktop photo? No, no, please try not to stretch my incredulity any further.

Also, the dream sequence was fine until it added an irrational bit. I thought it was reality until the murder victim showed up in faux Japanese-ghost-story fashion. If you're going to do a dream sequence, please be irrational right from the start in some manner. Even if the subject can't see it, the audience needs an obvious clue (like a flame going out or box falling up or something).

Still, it touches on all the right points. Strong female lead who is both a mother and a professional. Excellent camera work and color use. Proper, if predictable tension moments for commercial breaks. It all pretty much worked, even if the misdirect villain was a bit too obvious and the Yellow Eyes too preposterous.

I definitely look forward to watching the rest of the series.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~