When two bodies are found in a dinghy their tattoos identify them as members of part of the Russian Mafia from Riga in the Baltic state of Latvia; before being shot they had been forced to drink concentrated acid. When the Latvians are informed they send police officer Major Karlis Liepa to assist in their identification. He does this but it is clear he is holding something back. Soon after he faxes details of the deceased and pictures of the dinghy the police offices in Ystad are broken into and drugs that had been concealed in the dinghy taken. Before returning home the Major tells Kurt that the dead men were his informants. Shortly after the Major returns to Latvia he is tortured and murdered in the say way; Kurt is asked if he can fly out to tell the Latvians what the Major had discovered in Sweden. Once there he soon discovers that everybody is searching for the Majors case notes; it appears that they contain information concerning corruption in the police there. Before solving the case Kurt will have to work with the Major's widow and ultimately break into the archives inside Riga Police Headquarters.
How much you enjoy this episode depends on how easy you find it to suspend your disbelief as Kurt investigates corruption in the Latvian Police Force with minimal local cooperation as Latvia is obviously well outside his jurisdiction. If you can manage that then this is a fairly tense episode with a good number of exciting moments of course if you can't suspend your disbelief it is unlikely that you will enjoy it. As always Kenneth Branagh puts in a fine performance as Kurt; he is ably supported by Soren Malling, best known in the UK for his performance in the Danish thriller 'The Killing', as Major Liepa and Ingeborga Dapkunaite as his widow Baiba. As is often the case in such dramas there is some misdirection about who the guilty party is so those familiar with the genre are likely to figure out who didn't do it at the very least! Overall I found it to be an entertaining episode but prefer those where he is working in Ystad.
How much you enjoy this episode depends on how easy you find it to suspend your disbelief as Kurt investigates corruption in the Latvian Police Force with minimal local cooperation as Latvia is obviously well outside his jurisdiction. If you can manage that then this is a fairly tense episode with a good number of exciting moments of course if you can't suspend your disbelief it is unlikely that you will enjoy it. As always Kenneth Branagh puts in a fine performance as Kurt; he is ably supported by Soren Malling, best known in the UK for his performance in the Danish thriller 'The Killing', as Major Liepa and Ingeborga Dapkunaite as his widow Baiba. As is often the case in such dramas there is some misdirection about who the guilty party is so those familiar with the genre are likely to figure out who didn't do it at the very least! Overall I found it to be an entertaining episode but prefer those where he is working in Ystad.