Wallander - Collected Films 27- 32

It is curtains down for Wallander – the daddy of all daddies of the increasingly Nordic Noir franchise. In this, the final series, Sweden’s much-loved detective not only has to battle against nasty criminals and nasty superiors, but the onset of Alzheimer’s turns out to be his toughest battle yet!

The 3-disc set contains nail-biting episodes that certainly are a challenge for our grumpy and somewhat unorthodox Kurt Wallander (Krister Henriksson). The final season kicks off with ‘THE TROUBLED MAN’, in which a fisherman discovers the remains of a man who went missing many years ago, and is assumed to be the same person who went missing in the Swedish submarine incidents during the Cold War. At first, Wallander, who is assisted by his married daughter Linda (Charlotta Jonsson), seems to follow a blind path in his investigation. But then Linda’s father-in-law mysteriously disappears, and the entire case begins to point frighteningly close to home…

‘MISSING’ is one of the most disturbing episodes in the series. Wallander, back on the job after a brief suspension from his department (he forgot his gun in a restaurant and could not recall it), is drafted in the find a missing schoolgirl. At first, suspicion falls upon the girl’s father, a man from Chile who is estranged from his wife. Police are sure that either he or his brother has kidnapped the young girl to take her to Chile. Mid-investigation, Wallander recalls a case from ten years earlier, in which another girl vanished under similar circumstances and which could have nothing to do with the current case… But it has, as the detective and his team are about to find out the hard way…

The third episode, ‘BETRAYAL’, starts with bloody murder - literally. Near the family home, the wife of a prominent man is discovered dead by the distressed daughter. CCTV footage shows that the woman was brutally stabbed to death in her house, and the corpse dragged outside afterward. The daughter is certain that her father, with whom she has strained relations, either killed her mother or hired someone to carry out the deed for him. As ever in the little universe of Ystad and surrounding areas, nothing is as it seems…

Truly harrowing is ‘THE LOSS’, which sees the discovery of female body parts. Forensic tests and further investigations establish that the remains belong to a sex worker originally from Moldavia, and worse, that she was pregnant at the time of her death. Was she killed because she dared to leave her life and her pimp, or was she killed because someone out there might get into a lot of trouble if it emerges that he slept with a prostitute? Grisly in detail, the story also highlights the scrupulousness of human trafficking.

Things tense up in ‘THE ARSONIST’, in which a convicted arsonist is released from jail and is put by his sister’s family on a farm. Soon after, things start to go up in flames again, including the owner of a kiosk who was seen arguing with the young troublemaker the day before. As the entire village is sure that none other than the released man could be responsible – the police like to think that someone else merely tries to frame the ex-convict. However, proving his innocence isn’t easy seeing how the young man refuses to co-operate. In this episode, it also becomes evident that Wallander’s condition deteriorates, but as yet he prefers to keep it a secret from his daughter and concerned colleagues.

It’s the final one, titled ‘THE SAD BIRD. Sad indeed, but also twisted, as the kidnapping of a restaurateur turns out to be one complex bastard to solve. When Wallander and daughter Linda work together with Malmö police to try solve the murder, our detective – despite progressing Alzheimer’s – suspects corruption and involvement within his own police department. Considering his condition, which he can no longer hide, colleagues at first aren’t too inclined to agree with him… However, the shocking finale leaves the department shattered to the very foundation.

Available on DVD and Digital Download, the Wallander – Collected Films 27–32 set is a fitting goodbye to one of BBC4’s best-loved foreign detective dramas.