When one comes, they all come

We keeping hearing about the "team" and its work in Waking the Dead, so it's no surprise when the entire team turns up to tramp through murder sites. DS Boyd, played by Trevor Eve, is in charge of the team, which also includes a psychologist, a forensic pathologist, and two police officers. The team works on cold cases, and of course, there are no shortage of those. There is plenty of digging up bodies and "running tests" in the lab, but nothing too gruesome.

An odd thing about this series, compared to similar programs, is that we get to learn nothing about the lives of the main characters. They come to work, do their jobs, and go home to . . . what? There are some references to DS Boyd's son (who died at the age of 16) and the fact that Boyd feels guilty about it, but any time it's mentioned, the subject is quickly changed. We never get to see any significant others or the homes of the team members (other than once, when one of them becomes a crime victim). Only the first two of seven seasons (so far) were available on Netflix, so perhaps the characters are more fully developed as distinct personalities as time goes on.

Trevor Eve, the perfect Wallander

Rolf Lassgård, the un-Wallander #1

Krister Henriksson, also not Wallander

As I watched the episodes, it hit me: Trevor Eve would make a fantastic Wallander! When reading the Henning Mankell books, naturally I formed a picture on my head of how Wallander should look. The two actors who have portrayed him, Rolf Lassgård and Krister Henriksson, are both fine actors, but they look nothing like Wallander. And I see from IMDB that Kenneth Branagh is portraying Wallander in a UK version of the books. NO, NO, NO! Haven't I just pointed out that Trevor Eve is all that Wallander should be? Do these casting directors even read the books? {sigh}


Final Verdict on Waking the Dead: Three Gherkins, for being a much more interesting version of CSI