Wallander (TV Series) A Lesson in Love (2015) User Reviews

Melancholy Episode Showing the Beginnings of a Great Detective's Decline

[l_rawjalaurence · 8/10 · 23 June 2016]

Benjamin Caron's production shifts the action back to Kurt Wallander's (Kenneth Branagh's) home turf of Sweden, and the quality of the episode improves dramatically as a result. There is something peculiarly apposite to the mood of the series about the setting, with its anonymous-looking gray stone buildings and seemingly permanent bad weather.

The criminal aspects of this case are relatively insignificant. A young girl (Mia Goth) goes missing, and Wallander is summoned to investigate a case involving a group of bikers, a highly protective father (Clive Wood), and a taciturn son (Hugh Mitchell). What matters more is our growing awareness of Wallander's deteriorating mental state. Now in his mid-fifties, he suffers from diabetes as well as occasional moments of dizziness. Dr. Oberg (John Lightbody) offers brief moments of reassurance, but we gather that something is really wrong when Wallander forgets leaves a loaded gun in a café and receives temporary suspension from the police force as a result.

Caron's production uses repeated shots of Wallander driving alone on deserted roads to emphasize his isolation. He has a daughter (Jeany Spark), and a granddaughter (Kitty Peterkin) who both love him, but he cannot admit to them about his true mental state. He gamely tries to carry on his work; but it's clear that his aptitude for it is not what it was. Wallander's isolation is further emphasized through aerial shots of the deserted Swedish landscape, with Wallander's car appearing almost like a speck on the horizon.

Branagh gives a low-key performance; his facial expressions rarely change, but it's clear that he is a tormented soul desperately trying to keep his true state of mind hidden from public view. Outward show matters - especially for a high-ranking police officer - and he works hard to sustain his sang-froid. Yet perhaps the task proves beyond him; in the final shot of his episode we see his face encased in a mask as he is about to endure an MRI scan; his surreal appearance denotes something of his true state of mind.

"A Lesson in Love" is a low-key episode in which situation assumes as much significance as plot. There are occasional longueurs, but the viewer's patience receives its due reward in the end.

very good but oh so sad

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 19 June 2016]

Kenneth Branagh is back as Wallander in "Wallander: A Lesson in Love" as the fourth and final season nears its end.

After Wallander is attacked on the street, he begins to investigate the murder of a widow, Erika Hjelmqvist, whose daughter Hannah has disappeared.

Erika had an ongoing altercation with her tenants, a group of bikers. One of the biker's sons, Pontus, comes under suspicion. Wallander finds out that the daughter was in care and also that she had a boyfriend that her mother didn't know about.

He also has a visit from an old girlfriend, which gives him a small break.

Meanwhile, he sees a doctor, afraid that he is developing dementia like his father.The doctor assures him that he's fine. But Kurt is forgetful and confused, and it can't all be due to the head injury he suffered in the attack.

I think sobering is the right word for this dark, atmospheric episode with a Swedish sensibility and beautiful cinematography. Kenneth Branagh is wonderful as the frustrated and frightened Wallander. Also it's nice to see him with his granddaughter, though one can tell he feels inferior next to his daughter's-in-law father, who has more money.

Branagh gives us a complex character, which is my major complaint about the series of films regarding Jesse Stone in which Tom Selleck plays a morose town sheriff. You can't just not smile and speak slowly and think you're creating a character. Branagh tugs at the heart and keeps on tugging, even after the episode.

Concerns about Kurt's health

[Tweekums · 8/10 · 30 May 2016]

After last week's season opener in South Africa detective Kurt Wallander is back in his home country of Sweden. In the pre-credit sequence he is attacked by a motorbike gang and left battered and bruised. As the story proper starts he is called out when an elderly woman disappears from a care home; she is quickly found but when she is she points the way to a body lying face down in a puddle. It is quickly established that she was murdered and that her teenaged daughter is missing. Suspicion quickly falls on the biker gang as she was trying to get them evicted from the buildings. The bikers don't do anything to help their cause when they get violent following the discovery of a bloody knife. The son of the gang's leader is arrested and refuses to talk but Kurt has a feeling that he is hiding something else.

While this case is going on it becomes apparent that things aren't well with Kurt; he is suffering bouts of confusion and fears that it could lead to dementia as happened to his father. His doctor tells him that that is unlikely given his age and the fact that the assault left him concussed but he then starts to forget things; first he leaves the gas on when he goes out then he leaves his sidearm in a restaurant… a mistake that leads to his suspension.

This was a really good episode; the mystery was interesting but ultimately secondary to the story of Kurt's failing mental health. Kenneth Branagh does a fine job showing Kurt's confusion and subsequent frustration as his memory falters. This is clearly going to be a major point in the series finale. It wasn't all downbeat for Kurt though; it was good to see him get some happiness when he met up with a former lover and spent some time with her. Overall an impressive episode that nicely sets things up for the finale.

The Beginning of the End

[Hitchcoc · 9/10 · 20 May 2016]

This is a sad part of the Wallander saga as he battles fits of forgetfulness and even some hallucinations. The episode begins with him being brutalized by a motorcycle gang. While recovering, he has lapses of memory. The beating seems to disguise a more significant problem. Even his doctor doesn't take it as seriously because he is concussed. But as the episode goes on we see him struggling to focus. He slips into reverie. The case involves the pursuit of a young girl who has gone missing after her mother was murdered. The logical group responsible may be the motorcyclists. Kurt slips in and out of focus, as does the camera (a bit of a trite motif). He forgets things and gets confused on the one hand and quickly gathers himself and takes control of situations. Because the girl is terribly frightened, he becomes a threat to her, making his job all the harder. His daughter, Linda, begins to notice he is not himself. Driving becomes a great challenge, particularly in locating places. This episode, done in the Swedish series, is better done. Nevertheless, it is well worth the effort. One criticism is that Kenneth Branagh plays the detective in such a subdued and confused manner, even when he is not having bouts of dementia, that it is a bit hard to differentiate.

Very good, very sad in equal measure.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 2 July 2022]

Kurt is violently beaten and mugged, he's instantly on the hunt for the killer of Erika Hjelmqvist, and he's trying to find her missing daughter Hannah.

I enjoyed this episode quite a lot, it combines a truly engaging case of murder, with the personal problems Kurt is facing, his deteriorating health.

There are some happy, uplifting moments, the piano and dinner, those are of course contrasted with the darker scenes, the moment where Kurt receives news of his health for one.

If you happen to be a fan of Inspector Morse, then you can perhaps relate to this, it feels like the early stages of The Remorseful Day, the final act for Morse.

Clive Wood is excellent as the head of the biker gang, he's had such a varied career, this is one of the best things I've seen him do.

Overall, it's a very good penultimate episode for Kurt. 8/10.

A Lesson in Love

[Prismark10 · 7/10 · 19 June 2016]

Peter Harness who wrote the whole of series 3 returns to write for A Lesson in Love the second in the final series of Wallander and we are back in Sweden after the previous episode's jaunt to South Africa which was oddly structured as it had a new writer and we were also in unfamiliar territory.

In some ways in this episode Kurt is happy walking with his grand daughter telling her about his trip to South Africa. His daughter is happily settled married to a wealthy family. His love life improves as Baiba his Latvian girlfriend drops by. Things are looking up.

However at the age of 55, Kurt is having trouble focusing his mind and is getting forgetful. This presents problems in his latest case. Kurt is called to a care home to look for a missing elderly patient. It is the same home that treated his father when he suffered from dementia.

They find the missing elderly woman but the search leads the body of another dead woman and her teenage daughter is missing. Suspicion falls on a motorbike gang who leased some farm buildings from the dead woman. Kurt thinks that the head of the gang is protecting his son who has something to hide. The motorbike gang are far from happy that they are the subject of police enquiries.

We realise in this episode that the Wallander mysteries have taken course over a number of years and Kurt is heading for retirement age which is going to become more rapid due to his memory problems. The mystery is not up there with the previous series and the episode also lays down the groundwork for the final episode when his daughter's father in law reveals a government cover up dating back to the early 1980s.