The Phantom has surfed past the picture shown above innumerable times, as he pedaled on his stationary bicycle in the basement. Even the blurb caused a reflex click, something about a conflicted detective.
Nothing prepared The Phantom for the power and the mesmerizing effect of this film noir detective procedural, which follows all the standard rules of detective/thriller fiction: Put the vulnerable woman (Mirelle Enos) at risk as the diminutive, fragile looking detective. Develop one suspect after another who looks like this one really must be the one. Resolve the case in a surprising way you didn't see coming, only after you've resolved it in another way you didn't see coming.
But what makes this extraordinary series (seasons 1&2) so extraordinary is the development of the reltionship between the two police--Linden (Enos) and Holder (Joel Kinnaman.) Their connection is entirely believable, slowly developed, interwoven and deepened with each episode, almost with each scene.
The backgrounds of each actor, it will come as no surprise after watching them, is complex: Enos is the daughter of an American Mormon and a French woman. Kinnaman is the son of an American who left the States during the Vietnam war and moved to Sweden, as some men of conscience did during those years. Kinnaman has starred in a variety of Swedish films and TV shows, but his English is flawless--he spent an exchange year in high school in the States. He actually sounds like an inner city Black--there is even a line when a suspect steals a line from The Wire--"You do know you are white, don't you?"
The other character is the city of Seattle, which is shown in establishing aerial views at the beginning and during each episode.
Nearly every scene occurs in the rain, even most indoor scenes show it raining outside, windows running, or the sound of rain drumming on the roof. There is a dark, dark feel to the place, to the people, to the soul in this production.
Faces convey with great economy a flicker of contempt, disbelief, amusement. Kinnaman has the only leavening humor. Enos is relentlessly somber, but somehow you never get bored, or think less of her for it. Somehow, the few times she does smile, usually with great effort, it makes her pain even more palpable, and on the very few occassions she is actually amused, you feel like you have been given a special treat.
But the greatest thing is information management: You are given just enough to keep you coming back, and background on Linden is hinted at, mentioned and dropped until the last few episodes when she is confronted with a psychiatrist, who you can see is completely outmatched by a vastly superior intellect.
This is not The Wire. It is not social commentary masquerading as fiction. It is fiction, meant to be seen as fiction, meant to be enjoyed as one enjoys waking up from a nightmare.
It is an American adaptation of a Swedish show, The Crime. And it is very darkly Scandinavian in its sensibilities. If the depiction of the family of the victim is laid on a bit too thickly, you have to forgive them in the end, when you find out more about who they lost.
There is a third season, which can only be a disappointment. But The Phantom is wild to see it. If it is even half as good as the first two, it will still be head and shoulders above any show on American T.V., except of course, The Wire.
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