FIRST LOOK: Those Who Kill (Season 3)

NOTE: This is a brief account of my first impressions regarding the third season of Nordic crime drama "Those Who Kill" based solely on me watching the first episode of the latest eight-part cycle of the show.

The third outing of the popular Danish crime drama Those Who Kill is finally released and the fans of Nordic thrillers are in for a treat as this latest season follows the tracks, in terms of themes and main plotline, of the previous two installments and features the trademark gloomy cinematography and downbeat atmosphere that made the series one of the most acclaimed television productions of the genre. Natalie Madueño, the mesmerizing beauty whom we well remember as Claudia Moreno in the -now concluded- Follow the Money saga (3 seasons in total), resumes her role as Louise Bergstein, the renowned criminal profiler who has been proved to be a major serial-killer hunter throughout the course of the show. Louise is one of the few characters who appear in all three seasons and in this cycle, she is framed by police investigator Frederik Havgaard (Simon Sears), who asks for her help regarding a puzzling crime that may initially seemed an open-and-shut case, though, after Louise carefully reviews the facts, gets much more perplexing.

The season begins with Louise suffering the after-effects caused by the fallout of the Peter Vinge case that deeply traumatized her, leading to her manifesting acute symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. She is seeing a therapist in order to stop looking over her shoulder and compulsively searching her apartment for signs of a break-in, and amidst that personal chaos, she is transferred to a precinct to help the local cops with the case of a middle-aged couple who is found murdered in front of their house in one of Copenhagen's neighborhoods. The prime suspect is a disturbed young man and the investigation zeroes in on him, thus neglecting to examine alternative possibilities until the moment that Louise enters the pictures and puts the certainty of the suspect's guilt under question. Frederik and Louise will form a closed-knit team that will attempt to figur out the inner workings of another deranged mind, staying loyal to the tradition of the Those Who Kill TV series.

It should be reminded to the fans of Scandi-crime dramas, that the original Those Who Kill television series was aired in 2011 from a wholly different production team and casting Jakob Cedergren, Laura Bach, and Lars Mikkelsen in the leading roles. That show featured 10 episodes in total and was followed by a spin-off feature film under the title Those Who Kill: Shadow of the Past (2011). An American titular remake was also aired in 2014 with Chloë Sevigny in the role of the protagonist-detective and James D' Arcy as the erudite and highly perceptive forensic psychologist whose insights prove invaluable in both pinpointing and arresting the culprits of horrific crimes. Five years later, the Danish producers resolved to reboot the show, retaining the same title and following the original as far as plot and characterization are concerned. The show have been a major commercial success, thus we get to watch another cycle of the beloved production that keeps the audience on their toes, keeping suspense at the highest possible level and often depicting disturbing acts of visceral violence that possess the capacity to shock the viewership.

The first episode of the third season doesn't holds many surprises in store for the audience as it remains faithful to the style and content of the previous two installments. I believe that the duo of protagonists, Louise and Frederik, share a natural chemistry that will offer many moments of intrigue in the course of the next seven episodes. That was something the first season lacked as Kenneth M. Christensen who played the lead detective didn't manage to handily bind with Madueño and the result affected my overall assessment of the season. The story seems promising and I expect nothing less than elaborate plot machinations and spectacular twists that will keep us glued to our screens. I hope that I won't be belied by the following episodes.