Young Wallander Season 1 Review: A Ways to Go to Live Up to Old Wallander
The character of Wallander is rather like that of James Bond, Olivia Benson, or Sherlock Holmes: their entire story is inextricably tied to where they’re from.
Wallander, as a character and a series, is decidedly Swedish. You can’t take the Swedish out of Wallander any more than you can take the British out of James Bond, or the New York out of Olivia Benson.
Young Wallander‘s biggest and perhaps most insurmountable flaw is that it is nearly entirely detached from its Swedish identity.
Without Sweden as an anchor, the story feels constantly ambiguous and untethered. Even the biggest reveals over the short six-episode season just don’t make much of an impression.
The show needs to create a notably Swedish setting to transport the audience to a new place and make it care about yet another detective show.
Even Wallander’s apartment, which we get to see close up on a few occasions, doesn’t deliver any indication of place. The traditions, the clubs, the clothes all look and feel like they could be from a number of different regions.
The plot is not nearly strong enough to carry the entire series on its shoulders. Without the visuals or the details, the whole thing falls flat.
I am no Swedish expert. I couldn’t tell you if the type of Sweden a series of film presents is authentic. But, on Young Wallander, we don’t focus on grounded daily lives of the characters long enough to get any sense of the place, authentic or not.
The immigration storyline is central to the season. Instead of utilizing that as an opportunity to educate audiences about issues specific to Sweden, we learn nothing new. The characters feel generic instead of specific.
For example, Charles Mnene, who plays gang leader Bash, is an absolute powerhouse performer.
His voice. Period.
Also, Mnene was born in Kenya and is a British theater star. He is primed to showcase the nuances of immigration and facing people’s biases.
Sadly, Bash is an underdeveloped character who seems to show up just to allow Wallander to prove he can play the hero. We never see Bash’s perspective or learn about how he grew up.
Mnene never gets to shine and that’s a dang shame.
Quick aside. Can we pretty please start to give Black male actors with big bad voices roles other than criminal? That’d be swell.
Even the family that is at the heart of Wallander’s transformation on the series, the family that pushes him from Young Wallandher to, I guess, Old Wallander, is given fuzzy, generic, and humorless characterization.
It’s not all bad news.
The chemistry between Wallander and his love interest Mona is delicious. Adam Pålsson plays Wallander’s desire for Mona in a really sumptuous way.
Sitting at home we can feel the relief he experiences when he realizes that he can fall apart in her arms, and then join her in bed too.
His chemistry with partner Frida is a different flavor, but just as tasty, I might add.
Another strength of the series that alone warrants a second season is the bond between Wallander and the Al-Rahman family. Jasmine’s anger at Wallander, which keeps her on the still functioning side of her grief, is the most emotionally resonant piece of the first season.
It is incredibly brief. But, the hug Jasmine gives Kurt when she gets that phone call is a huge moment for the show. It restarts the heart beat.
It is refreshing to see a bit of the recovery process after a life-threatening injury like Reza sustains. His sudden exhaustion and frustration with the limitation he experiences during his recovery is good to see. There should be more of that.
The wealthy family story is a little to on the nose Knives Out for my taste, but nothing’s horrid about it. It’s also nothing new.
There is nothing fresh about the series and there really should be. The show’s lead Pålsson, who is a wonderfully competent actor, looks and sounds so darn much like Jonathon Groff as Holden Ford on Mindhunter that it is easy to forget which show you’re actually watching!
Even with all of its weaknesses, Young Wallander has just enough leads to the first season worthwhile and to make a solid case for a second season.
What did you think of this episode of Young Wallander? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Young Wallander Season 1 is streaming now on Netflix.
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Janelle Ureta
Janelle Ureta is equal parts Veronica Mars, Raven Reyes, and Rebecca Bunch, but she aspires to add some Tammy Taylor to the mix. An attorney turned teacher, Janelle believes in the power of a well-told story. She is currently exploring how to tell short stories, 140 characters or less, on twitter. She loves to talk about TV, and right now she can't shut up about Timeless, Dear White People, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, The 100, or Younger.