Brilliant investigator Kari Sorjonen leaves his position in the special crimes unit of Finland's National Bureau of Investigation and moves his family from the bustling city of Helsinki Lappeenranta, a small coastal city near the Russian border. He's taken a job heading a new Serious Crimes Unit of the town's police force to spend more time with his wife Pauliina, who is recovering from treatment for brain cancer, and his teenage daughter Janina. But in the tradition of such crime dramas, this rural location becomes a focal point for corruption, crime, and murder, much of it connected with the Russian city of St. Petersburg across the border.
Kari Sorjonen follows in a long tradition of savant detectives; he's eccentric, brilliant, obsessive, better with evidence than navigating social situations. But as created by Miikko Oikkonen, he's also complex and nuanced, a devoted husband and a protective father who knows how cases can take over his life and struggles to maintain a balance, a leader who stands up for his team, a man with Asperger syndrome (never explicitly stated in the show but illustrated in his behavior and backstory) who has developed tools to deal with it. That complexity, along with the vivid, committed performance by actor Ville Virtanen (whose body language is expressive as the writing), makes him a compelling character.
The series opens with his arrival in Lappeenranta and his first case with the new team. Through the five mysteries across eleven hour-long episodes, the show introduces well-drawn characters and a complicated society around them as the Mayor, who also happens to be a former boyfriend of Kari's wife, tries to transform the former industrial town into a tourist destination. The influx of money and new business inevitably brings with it crime and corruption.
The first mystery also introduces Lena Jaakkola (Anu Sinisalo), a Russian FSB agent who has gone rogue to find her daughter Katia, a teenage runaway caught up in a sex trafficking ring that is tangled in Kari's murder investigation. Kari respects Lena's talents (even when she ignores protocols and legalities) and her commitment to her daughter, and he campaigns to hire Lena (who is warned not to return to Russia) for his team. She makes a marvelous counterpoint to Kari, impulsive and cynical and willing to break the law for her mission, and her troubled relationship with her rebellious daughter Katia is an echo of Kari's struggles to connect with his own daughter.
The vivid characters, dramatic setting, and strong storytelling made this Scandinavian noir series a hit in Europe and America (where it streams on Netflix) alike and it is one of the best murder mystery shows currently on TV or streaming.
Rated TV-MA for nudity, adult situation, drug use, adult language, and violence. 11 episodes on three discs on Blu-ray, all in Finnish with English subtitles. No supplements. Highly recommended.