Timo Harjunpää (Ollie Rahkonen) returns to our screens as the likeable Finnish detective in ‘Helsinki Crimes', an engaging police procedural set in the Finnish capital.
If you want to avoid all spoilers, stop reading this article now.
For Season 2 we’re treated to six further episodes which cover three storylines (ie – two episodes per story). The opening episode involves a young man who meets older wealthy women on dating websites and tricks them into handing over large sums of cash to fund his fabricated tales. He has numerous phones and seems to have a different tale to spin with each woman. But he’s not working alone – ironically enough he has an older female boss for whom he has genuine feelings, but unfortunately for him, she sees their relationship as purely a working one. Timo and his team get involved when one of his victims is found dead and her bank account shows some large withdrawals.
Additionally, a well-known architect has been found dead, assaulted outside a nightclub. He had recently split up with his girlfriend, who tells the police that he often had casual sex with men he met at bars – and when an eyewitness confirms that he saw man leaving the club with a younger man, the assumption is that it’s a case of an illicit triste gone wrong. But then a bouncer at the club contradicts that and says he left alone. Why is he lying? At the end of the opening episode, we catch up with the younger man and witness him take his own life. Presumably there’s more to this case than a simple fight that got out of control.
In Timo’s personal life, his father’s early signs of Alzheimer’s are causing him concern. One solution might be to have him move in with his wife and family, but that idea isn’t entirely welcomed by his wife. And nor is the idea of moving him into a home – something his dad is entirely set against.
This is a classy show. The characters are all engaging and believable. Even the new recruit – a grizzled old cop they call Bingo (because he’s always turning up out of the blue) – is a well-rounded and amusing character. The storylines are exciting and beautifully written, and the production values are very high – it’s a top-quality production.
I don’t think you need to see Season 1 to enjoy this; they’re basically stand-alone episodes. But it’s worth seeing Season 1 simply because it’s also an excellent piece of character-driven television.
If you enjoy a good chunk of Nordic Noir, this ought to be on your list.
Walter Presents: ‘Helsinki Crimes' Season 2 is available to stream as a boxset on C4 Streaming now.
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