This contains spoilers and is only about the first season.
The show has some great atmosphere and some wonderful strengths that differentiate it from other "cop shows."
It has a nice refreshing pace at times that allow human experiences like grief, fear and sadness to unfold dramatically. The setting and acting all contributes to an engaging show for the most part.
However, there are two flaws in the show that make the season disappointing.
A basic rule is that a character needs to have choices and change to be interesting. While Hardy (David Tennant) is an interesting guy at first, his character is doesn't really do anything and gets to be rather boring. He doesn't seem to be that great a detective, just average, which could be OK if there were something he could deal with. But his health problems and his guilt are underutilized and just, well, boring.
Another idea is that stories should be surprising and convincing. The show does offer a little surprise (although we are running out of suspects pretty quickly) but it is very unconvincing. The show tries to compensate for this unconvincing problem through hysterics and an appeal to "I just can't explain the power of the attraction" but, for me, the writers just didn't do a good enough job of planting clues and moving me to the place where I could buy the ending.
For me, a fatal flaw and won't be watching the second season.
The show has some great atmosphere and some wonderful strengths that differentiate it from other "cop shows."
It has a nice refreshing pace at times that allow human experiences like grief, fear and sadness to unfold dramatically. The setting and acting all contributes to an engaging show for the most part.
However, there are two flaws in the show that make the season disappointing.
A basic rule is that a character needs to have choices and change to be interesting. While Hardy (David Tennant) is an interesting guy at first, his character is doesn't really do anything and gets to be rather boring. He doesn't seem to be that great a detective, just average, which could be OK if there were something he could deal with. But his health problems and his guilt are underutilized and just, well, boring.
Another idea is that stories should be surprising and convincing. The show does offer a little surprise (although we are running out of suspects pretty quickly) but it is very unconvincing. The show tries to compensate for this unconvincing problem through hysterics and an appeal to "I just can't explain the power of the attraction" but, for me, the writers just didn't do a good enough job of planting clues and moving me to the place where I could buy the ending.
For me, a fatal flaw and won't be watching the second season.