Category: MDP On TV

I wondered how I’d react to another gritty French cop show after my strong connection with Spiral (Engrenages), and to be honest the first episode of Braquo left me a little cold. There was no passionate Laure Berthaud or Pierre “Monsieur Integrity” Clement to love, just a group of very flawed, angry police working out of a grey, miserable warehouse somewhere in the bowels of Haute-de-Seine.

The IMBD blurb synopsis goes like this:

Four police officers of the SDPJ Hauts-de-Seine, Eddie Caplan, Walter Morlighem, Theo Wachevski and Roxane Delgado have their lives turned upside down when their colleague, Max, committed suicide, following a case in which he is unfairly blamed. They then cross the “yellow line”, not hesitating to circumvent the law to achieve their purposes in order to wash the honor of their friend Max.

The viewer only gets a very brief time to know Max before the suicide and he appeared (to me at least) neither likeable nor charismatic. So from the beginning I struggled to get a handle on the motivation for the vengeance that follows.

However, one thing I’ve really enjoyed about both Braquo and Engrenages is the exploration of loyalty (particularly among cops) and how it is a belief/value that one must literally die for.

Braquo has some sexy moments, and some poignant ones but it is essentially a tale of survival – keeping one step ahead of those who want the worst for you; and about being in situations where the only choices are bad ones.

Though Spiral had the same ingredients, it also mixed in the morality, humanity and relevence of the law. There was something intrinsically noble about Spiral which Braquo doesn’t have – and probably intentionally so. Braquo is as gritty as it gets on television, leaving British, Norwegian, Swedish, Canadia and America drama to pale in comparison.

I found the character of Eddie Kaplan charismatic and credible and Roxanne Delgado’s slightly surly, defiant, little girl lost persona very endearing. Wachevski was vain and insecure and up for anything, and Morlighem, the gambling addict, had a deep love for his family that rescued him from hopelessness. All interesting characters though at times infuritatingly stupid.

There are no decent people in Braquo. Everyone is selfish, conniving and untrustworthy. In such a hostile environment, our little band only have each other to rely upon. In Braquo it really is a case of all for one and one for all.

An abundance of three day growth, bags under the eyes, gravelled voices, muted colours and cigarette smoke.

Peter Moffat is the creator of the BBC series SILK, which I thoroughly enojyed. So much so, in fact, that I went looking for his other work on CRIMINAL JUSTICE. I had to start with series two, as it was all I could find in the shops, and I now have series one on order.

Series two is a compelling journey through the UK penal system, as we follow Juliet Miller (played by Maxine Peake) once she is convicted of killing her husband, the lauded barrister, Joe Miller (Mathew Macfadyen). Juliet had been the victim of extreme psychological abuse. However, her silence and composed manner is interpreted as calculated cold-heartedness, and people in the legal system soon begin to take sides. Juliet’s soliciter, Jacki Woolf (Sophie Okonedo), recognises the signs of the abuse straight away, and devotes herself to trying to get Juliet off her murder charge. But others are just as keen to see her locked away forever.

Moffat is extremely adept at placing his characters in idealogically difficult situations. And not just the protagonists! Many of the secondary characters face fascinating dilemmas that spin out of the central conflict. The relationship between Juliet’s solicitor and barrister (both women), the relationship between the two Detective Inspectors (who are philosopically opposed)  and the Detective Sergeant (who is married to one of them) on the case, are as interesting and taut as the whole central question of what will happen to Juliet? Another layer is the deep exploration of a mother’s bond with her child, as Juliet gives birth in prison, while dealing with the fact her thirteen year old daughter now hates her.

Though the story moves slowly, the eventual breakdown of Juliet’s barriers so that she finally is able to tell her side of the story is both painful and heartwrenching. Maxine Peake is a tour de force in the role, and she is supported by some highly skilled actors (MacFadyen, Okonedo, and a brilliant job by Alice Sykes as Juliet’s teenage daughter).

If you’re in the mood for action and thrills, this is not for you, but if you want to be engrossed and exposed to the harsh hand life can deal – then pick up the DVD. I recommend it.

Below is an interview with Peter Moffat, which is worth watching if you want some insight into how a fine storyteller thinks. And for those of you who have enjoyed SILK, you will recognise certain characters that resonate between it and Criminal Justice – particularly the character of SAUL the law clerk who is reincarnated as Billy Lamb.

Spiral (Gears) is, without question, the best thing I’ve watched on television aside from The Killing. The cultural differences between the two series are quite significant as Spiral is French and The Killing is Danish but both have brilliantly well drawn characters.

The story focuses largely on events surrounding Police Inspector Laure Berthaud (Caroline Proust) and Assistant Prosecuting Judge, Pierre Clement (Gregory Fitoussi – yum!). In doing so the series relfects heavily on the French Inquistorial Justice system. It also highlights many of the social problems in Paris; drugs, immigrant assimilation and political corruption.

It is quite explicit and gruesome in parts, and very violent. While  The Killing works as a slow burn, Spiral is confrontational and (depending on your sensibilities) shocking. It doesn’t hold back on the uglier side of human nature.

We talk a lot about flawed characters in fiction, and they don’t get much more flawed than Laure, Pierre, Judge Francois Roban and Josephine Karlsson. Laure and Pierre swing between integrity and its opposite, while Francois’ passion for the law costs him everything, and the black-hearted Joesephine shows that even the most corrupt of people can sometimes come through. Truly riveting stuff! I particulary enjoyed the dynamic between Laure and her team – specifically her co-dependency with the cocoaine-snorting Lieutenant “Gilou”.

I am absolutely hanging out for series 4. Can things get any worse for the volatile, single-minded Laure and the suave, conflicted Pierre? I imagine, having seen what the brilliant writers have done already, they can! I’ll certainly be there to stumble with them, and angst over whether they will make the right decisions.