Rating: 3/5
‘Young Wallander: Killer’s Shadow’ (season 2), a Netflix series, follows detective Kurt Wallander as he looks into a case involving Frida Rask’s major criminal probe.
Story
Anton (Lewis Mackinnon) walks to get a coffee with Katja (Kim Adis), a young lady he meets. However, a car follows them down a narrow alleyway; he pushes Katja out of the way but is run straight over and killed.
Kurt Wallander (Adam Pålsson) ruminates over Superintendent Hemberg’s death in the middle of the night, and finally visits his tomb, where he meets his old companion, Frida Rask (Leanne Best).
Wallander rejoins the division, along with Hemberg’s replacement, Samuel Osei (Tomiwa Edun), and the team, which includes his former coworker Reza Al-Rahman (Yasen Atour).
Rask takes him in for a hit-and-run case, and he has to find Katja to find out what happened that night when she was with him.
Wallander is summoned to the District Court after a chase, where he meets Osei for the first time. Anton turns out to be Elias Fager, the guy who was involved in Rask’s first major criminal probe.
Performances
The series is beautifully anchored by Adam Pålsson, who uses Wallander’s youth to draw you in. He’s overly sentimental, overly trusting, and way too innocent, yet it endears him to you and makes you care for him immediately.
Leanne Best and Tomiwa Edun do an excellent job of setting the scene for the narrative. Yasen Atour, on the other hand, uses his acting skills to emote English fluently, allowing the audience to connect with him.
Ceara Coveney, Richard Lintern, and Lewis Mackinnon do an extremely good job and have a significant impact on the tale, but only geta few opportunities.
Positives
The series’ filmmaking is outstanding. Many of the images are framed in such a way that the characters are well-positioned in relation to the setting around and with just the proper amount of pacing and stunning cinematography.
The plot is engaging. Even seasoned genre fans will be surprised by a few surprises in this series. The series is a lot more agreeable and, oddly, more successful about the subjects it’s attempting to be about without the constant preaching.
There are certainly major concerns at the core of things but they’re handled much more sensitively and not in a way that jeopardizes the mystery.
Writers Chris Lunt and Micheal A. Walker have done an excellent job of establishing a fresh case with only a little amount of continuity from season one. It is lean with the little time to be anything other than forthright with the narrative in its six episodes.
Where Young Wallander: Killer’s Shadow (season 2) gets more fascinating is when fresh issues are brought into sharper light by new Superintendent Osei, who is there to bring an impetuous and emotional department back into line with the policies.
Negatives
The characters simply come across as stiff and uninterested. More backstory for the supporting cast might have been given, as it was hinted at but only minimally addressed.
It’s still not ideal, due to a few logical flaws and some vexing decision-making. The climax and resolution are both a little unremarkable.
Verdict
If you like mysteries, you are going to find Young Wallander: Killer’s Shadow (season 2) an enjoyable ride.
Also Read: Young Wallander: Killer’s Shadow (season 2) summary and ending explained