Crossing Lines

One thing I know about myself is that I need me a regular police procedural TV show in my life. Except for Law and Order SVU, most of the current crop of such shows on TV are tired. Same characters and recycled storylines become tiresome over the run of a long show. NSIS and Criminal Minds suffer from this handicap right now I feel. Chicago PD is interesting because of a combination of dynamic newcomers with old pros. But this is rare in American TV for me.

Crossing Lines, however, is one I have loved for it's last two seasons. It's about a group of Investigators working for the World Court at the Hague in Belgium. Their leader, played by Donald Sutherland (!) is a prosecutor working with the War Crimes Tribunal. He supervises a team of pros from various European countries and they have jurisdiction all over Europe to investigate serious crimes. It's a great premise that gives the group free reign to do what they need to solve the case. You also have the chance to see how other countries run their police forces when the team work in a specific country. For me the show is also a travelogue of great locations in Europe. The mix of the old with the new in Europe is gorgeous to me and endlessly fascinating to watch.

Great European locations and actors makes this one a winner for me. William Fichner was great in the first two seasons and now Goran Visnjic (E.R.) is the central star and he is always good. Elizabeth Michell from Lost is also a strong addition to Season 3. I am glad the show seemed to have survived these cast changes intact. Sutherland is still very much involved and a few of the old team continue the fight despite their loses. That gives Season 3 a special boost. Many people are invested in making this show a success and that effort shows in the end result. Tandem a Canadian/French production house so it's also good for the Canadian TV industry to produce such a professional product.

The writing is always strong (especially the character stuff) and the stories are interesting and not always easy to solve. I never roll my eyes at the situations or their resolutions because everything ring true to the real world we all live in. But things are intense here and there is lots of drama and ennui to go around. Maybe that special addition to the depth of these characters makes this one a favorite of mine. It's not all witty banter between these people. They all have more than enough pain and regret to go around. And as we all know, EUROPEAN ENNUI is the SWEETEST ENNUI...just because it is always just a little bit sadder than regular old ennui. It's the ennui for special occasions.

I download this one so I have no idea where it actually airs though I know it was on NBC in the States. I will have to look that up before finishing this post because it's worth your time if you see it on Netflix or any of the other streaming services. It's a solid show for those who appreciate the genre. I promise you will not be disappointed. The video trailers below tell you all you need to know about the show to see if you are interested.

You can also find it on the You Tubes.