Switzerland. Synonymous with cuckoo clocks, Toblerone, Roger Federer and Edelweiss. But only one of the above will be a key component in new Swiss drama ‘Off Season’, brought to our screen by the good folks at Walter Presents.
If you want to avoid spoilers, stop reading this article now.
Police Captain Sterenn Peiry (Marina Hands) is a single mum with a teenage son who is tasked with tracking a killer in the idyllic surroundings of the Swiss Alps. But she’s not working alone – thanks to similarities between this killer’s modus operandi and that of a death just across the border in France, she is forced to work alongside a French cop – Lyes Bouaouni (Sofiane Zermani) – to find the culprit.
Meanwhile Peiry’s son, Jeremy, is seeing an Albanian girl who works at a local restaurant. He is clearly very smitten, but she considers their relationship to be little more than a casual fling whilst she’s in town. Sure enough, when she decides to move on, her decision doesn’t go down well with Jeremy.
Without giving away too much in the way of spoilers, an incident occurs and Sterenn has to tidy up the mess her son’s possessiveness has created. But her solution to this problem is so bewilderingly bizarre that any credibility the show might have held quickly evaporates as we see her take matters into her own hands.
The main draw for this series is undoubtedly the location. The glorious majesty of the Swiss mountains is a fabulous backdrop, regardless of the drama unfolding on-screen. But is that enough?
As to the story itself, well there are plenty of cliches. Single mum cop struggling to cope with a wayward teenager; an uneasy relationship with new unwanted work partner and her boss; personal tragedy involving another family member. But you can forgive all that if the storyline were to be believable. However, I really struggled to accept that anyone would do what Sterenn does in that situation, particularly given her profession.
The acting is solid, the direction and camerawork are both excellent. But after the opening episode, it’s hard to feel empathy with any of the characters, except for Lyes, the French cop. Perhaps appropriately, given the snowy setting, the remainder of the characters all leave me cold. However, it’s early days – hopefully there will be more to them as the series develops.
The show runs for six episodes (there’s a second season too) and is entertaining enough, as long as you can get over the choices made by the main character in the opening episode. But then again, if everyone behaved rationally, there would be no drama whatsoever.
I suggest you give it a whirl. On these chilly winter evenings, what could be better than to settle down with a cup of gluhwein or hot chocolate, a bar of Toblerone and enjoy the snowy drama as it unfolds.
Walter Presents: ‘Off Season’ will launch its first episode on Channel 4 at 11pm on Sunday 26th November. The full box set is available on Walter Presents via Channel 4 Streaming now.
