Review by C.J. Bunce
Although it leans into the drama more than the mystery and action this season, our favorite stylish, sexy, and intriguing hit British detective series Van der Valk is back–and better than last year. Marc Warren’s perfectly cool Commissaris Piet (pronounced “Pete”) Van der Valk, Amsterdam’s smartest detective in the latest of several adaptations of Nicolas Freeling’s series of novels, has always been bogged down in writing that isn’t as sharp as its cast. Its tone is far more dreary and personal in this fourth season on ITV and PBS in the States, yet Warren has a magnetic appeal that sees him carry the series, keeping it firmly in place as one of TV’s best ongoing series.
Showrunner and writer Chris Murray continues his finely choreographed travelogue police procedural, a British show directed by and with a crew of TV veterans from the Netherlands. It’s the most stunning setting of any series, and viewers will want to get on one of those advertised Viking trips to go spend time there. Maimie McCoy (All Creatures Great and Small) returns as Inspector Lucienne Hassell, along with Darrell D’Silva’s (Wrath of Man) oddball pathologist Hendrik, Azan Ahmed as the ever-improving cop Eddie Suleman, Emma Fielding (Cranford) as boss Julia Dahlman, her dog Sniffer, and Dutch actor Mike Libanon as barkeep Cliff. Loes Haverkort is settling in as Piet’s girlfriend Lena, and even gets to step into more of the action in the third mystery. But will the return of Piet’s old flame Kalie (German actress Kim Riedle) muck all that up?
McCoy’s Lucienne can best be compared to Captain Mal Reynolds’ loyal lieutenant Zoe Washburne in Firefly–she’s an equal in every way, cool and one to push Piet’s buttons at the right time. But we also are left wanting more, and it’s easy to envision getting to know her better if only the studio would allocate more episodes each season. Eddie gets to be more of a hero this year, and Julia’s absence means we get more of Piet teaming up with Sniffer. And Piet is a guy that should have a dog by his side all the time. We learn even more why that is true this season.
But the drama of the season is all about Hendrik. Hendrik learns after several days of coughing fits that he is dying of cancer. His refusal to seek treatment drives Piet, Lucienne & Co. up the walls, which allows Warren plenty of time for contemplation and to play Piet as a nicer guy. Hendrik is a better character this season for sure, an improvement over the off-the-wall guy he slipped into last season. In a great year of TV, how do you compare six hours of shows to much longer efforts? We’ve now seen 12 stories over less than 18 hours, but stretched over four years. Is that enough time to have a season-long arc about a recurring character that may be dying? This heavy plot is a lot to lay on viewers, who haven’t really gotten to know these players long enough to have this kind of story. Yes, it’s sad. Yes, it works as drama. But this series’ first two seasons were better than just another British drama.
Van Der Valk still can be much more if it has the chance. That means more clever sleuthing and more fun hijinks. We get to see some of that when the crew gets Hendrik drunk and kidnaps him to try to draw his blood so he can be better tested. And a puzzle could have been tweaked to allow the audience to better play along. You just cannot help wanting more.
It is a welcome improvement over the third season, bringing three investigations highlighting contemporary issues. That includes a whistleblower in a safehouse murdered, with the crime boss and her sons left as suspects. The second crime saw a famously missing singer with emotional issues being targeted as the murderer of a woman fighting the illegal trade of rare birds. And the third story saw a scientist murdered, a man who may have discovered the cure for cancer. He hides his solution in an art film, and the accused is an Elon Musk type who may have bought the patent on the cure and may be holding it to protect profits from his Big Pharma investments. That’s plenty of ideas intertwined in 4.5 hours of TV, which explains why we don’t get enough time to get to know and enjoy our heroes.
Even with its lack of twisty detective plots and its stack of odd crimes, the cast and setting of Van der Valk maintains the show as one of TV’s must-watch series. The writing on the series just may never catch up to Marc Warren’s talent. Van der Valk Season 4 is playing now on PBS, with all four complete seasons available on PBS Passport.
